Strange Places

The revived copper mining ghost town of Jerome, Arizona is not only filled with historic buildings and a rich history, but is also said to be the home place of a number of lingering ghosts.

Today, Jerome is an artist’s and tourist’s community of about 400 residents, but that has not always been the case. During its prosperous copper mining years, the town boasted some 15,000 residents, and was so filled with vices that it earned the nickname of the "Wickedest City in the West” by a New York newspaper. During those days, people died in mining accidents, gunfights, overdosed on opium, and a number of other unnatural events. With its ribald past, it comes as no surprise that the city is allegedly filled with wandering spirits.blockquote>

The White Eagle Saloon, located at 836 N. Russell St., is one of the most haunted places in Portland, Oregon. It is also one of the many small venues here in Portland that have become world famous for presenting such musical icons as ZZ Top, Robert Cray, The Holy Modal Rounders, Big Walter Horton, The Isley Brothers and a veritable plethora of other greats over the years.

The White Eagle was built in Portland's Albina district in 1905. Opened by two Polish immigrants, Barney Soboleski and William Hryszko, to offer other Polish immigrants a place of after-work recreation: pool, cigars, poker, liquor, beer, etc., according to the lore, with the right connection and proper amount of money, patrons could also indulge in a brothel upstairs or an opium den downstairs.

Ottawa Jail HostelCreaky footsteps around a dark corridor, disembodied knocking on cold concrete walls and iron bars worn smooth from the hands of tortured prisoners – these are just some of the experiences guests might expect when checking in for a night at an infamously haunted hostel in Ottawa.

Weary travelers looking for undisturbed sleep may be best to skip the Ottawa Jail Hostel, which sits at No. 9 on travel website Lonely Planet's list of the world's spookiest buildings. It's ranked just behind Ukraine's Chernobyl Reactor No. 4 and ahead of White Alice, Alaska.

From 1862 to 1972, the building was home to the Carleton County Jail, a maximum security institution with tiny cells, glassless windows and public executions.

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From 1862 to 1972, the Ottawa Jail Hostel was home to the Carleton County jail, a maximum security institution with tiny cells, and glassless windows.

The Ottawa Jail Hostel was built in 1862 and is reported to be haunted.(Image courtesy HI-Ottawa Hostel).

Hostelling International bought the building in 1973, creating what is now a quirky and sometimes scary place for intrepid tourists to spend the night.

Guests sleep in the former cells, some of which have their original bars. Wandering the building, they might also stumble upon original gallows, stairwells, secret tunnels and even death row.

Glen Shackleton, director of Haunted Walks Inc. which hosts guided tours in the building, said the hostel has all the ingredients in a perfect recipe for haunting.

"It really was like a medieval prison, a lot of people died there and they were buried in the yard," Shackleton told CTVNews.ca on Monday, adding that many of the bodies remain in their final resting place.

The most commonly reported spectral sighting is of a man who appears at the foot of guests' beds, sometimes clutching a Bible. Shackleton said the description usually matches that of Patrick James Whelan.

Whelan was hanged at the jail in 1869 in front of 5,000 spectators for the assassination of politician Thomas D'Arcy McGee.

Shackleton said Whelan's ghost may be still roaming the halls of the hostel due to an unceremonious burial in the yard – after he was promised by a judge to be buried in his family's plot in Montreal.

"He's the No. 1 suspect as far as hauntings are concerned," he said.

Shackleton, who has been doing tours for 16 years, said that he's experienced some strange incidents while in the old jail, including loud knocking on doors and heavy footsteps around corners.

"I think everyone wants to see or experience something for themselves, it's a big mystery," he said. "Most of us are unsure whether we believe in ghosts, but that doesn't mean we're not afraid."

Shackleton said although the alleged hauntings have made the hostel famous, one of the most important aspects of the hostel is its preservation as a historical site after it was doomed to be destroyed in the 1970s.

"The dark side of our history is just as important as the rosy side," Shackleton said.

There have been many stories of ghosts at Mammoth Cave, spanning several generations of visitors, guides and service personnel. This isn’t surprising considering that caves can be very spooky places, filled with dark corners, shadowed crevices and odd noises. But are the stories of Mammoth Cave merely figments of overactive imaginations? That remains to be seen, although we should take into account that ghostly tales have been told about the place almost from the time when the first cave tours roamed the darkened corridors with only a small lantern to guide the way.

These eerie stories tell of unexplained sounds, strange lights, bizarre noises, disembodied footsteps and of course, apparitions and spirits. However skeptics maintain there are explanations for these things. A person’s imagination can play tricks on them in the dark and footsteps and voices can seem ghostly when there are echoes from other parts of the cave. They also state that stories of encounters with ghosts in Mammoth Cave are told by tourists and visitors who have no previous experience with caves and with the natural phenomena that accompanies them. But there are others who would say that this isn’t true. While many of the stories are indeed accounts told by visitors to the cave, others are not so easy to explain away. Many of the tales are experiences shared by park rangers, cave explorers, spelunkers and even geologists who are fully aware of what strange things a cave can do.

Believers in the resident ghosts can cite a number of reasons why the cave might be haunted. The long history of the place includes accidents from the days of the saltpeter operations, Native Americans who wandered into the cave and never found their way out, stranded travelers, missing cave explorers, tragic tuberculosis victims and even those who loved the place so much that they have never left --or so the stories go.

I will allow the reader to judge for himself.

I have visited Mammoth Cave many times in years past and while collecting ghost stories, I have had the opportunity to talk with many of the people who work here. I have also been able to find other accounts from those who have gone on the record about the resident haunts in years past. In my own experience, I have found most of the park rangers reluctant to talk about ghost stories, although I have found a few who don’t laugh off the odd tales and who will share their own strange experiences.

One such ranger has served as a guide in the cave for a number of years. She told me that weird things often happen along the route leading from the historic entrance to the cave. One day, she had been leading a tour group into the cave and had stopped to point out a site along the passage. She paused to wait for everyone to catch up and noticed a man in the back who was lingering behind the rest. He was wearing a striped shirt, denim pants and suspenders, but that was all she remembered. After her discussion, the group moved further along the passage and she looked for the man again, but he was gone. There was no one else in the tour group who matched the description of this man, so she sent another guide back a little way to look for him. The man was never found.

Another story, told by an experienced tour guide named Joy Lyons, tells of a tour that was taken a few years ago in the company of a large group and two guides. When they reached a point on the trail called the "Methodist Church", they usually turned out all of the lights so that visitors could experience what the cave was like in pitch blackness. She was standing at the back of the group when the lights went out and she could hear the lead ranger talking about the experience. Then, she felt a strong shove against her shoulder. The assault was hard enough that she had to step forward to keep from falling over. She turned to another ranger, who was supposed to be standing next to her and she whispered to him to stop clowning around. A moment later, the lead ranger ignited the wick on a lantern and she saw that the other ranger, she had thought was close to her, was actually about 70 feet away. There was no way that he could have shoved her and then walked so far in complete darkness.

"There was no one near me," she said, "but it was a playful shove. There are a number of us who feel things in various parts of the cave. It’s not frightening -- but it’s something else."

An additional story comes from Charlie Hanion, a former cave guide who became a nature writer. He and a friend were leading a "Lantern Tour" of the cave (a historic tour designed to give the visitor an idea of how early tourists saw the cave) and as his friend was talking to the assembled group, a girl of about 14 years-old turned to Hanion and asked who the man standing near the rocks was. Hanion looked about 40 feet away and saw a man in old-fashioned, formal attire. He was dressed in a fashion that tourists from decades past would have dressed to tour the cave. The man quickly vanished!

"But the really weird part came the following week when we were on the same tour," Hanion added. As the tour group reached the same point in the cave, a guide asked if there were any questions. A woman raised her hand and asked if strange things were ever seen in this part of the cave? The woman was a tourist and claimed to be a psychic. She pointed over to the place in the rocks where Hanion had seen the man the week before and she asked who that person was.

"It was the same spot where we’d seen it before. I didn’t see it at all that time," Hanion recalled. He also admitted that while he hadn’t seen anything, the entire experience gave him chills to think about.

Based on these accounts, it would seem that apparitions are fairly common at Mammoth Cave and this is especially true when it comes to the most famous ghost connected to the cave. It is said to be a fictional account but many wonder if the story might contain elements of the truth, especially those who believe they may have encountered the main character in the story.

In February 1858, an article appeared in Knickerbocker Magazine called "A Tragedy in Mammoth Cave". The story tells of a girl named Melissa, who confessed the entire tale on her deathbed, having succumbed to tuberculosis. Melissa was a southern girl who lived in the vicinity of Mammoth Cave and she had fallen in love with her tutor from Boston, a young man named Beverleigh. The tutor had ignored Melissa’s affections and began courting a neighbor girl instead. Melissa plotted her revenge.

Having grown up in the area, she knew well the twists and turns of Mammoth Cave and with careful planning, she lured Mr. Beverleigh to the cave. She conducted him on a "tour" to the depths of the cave and to a place called "Echo River". Here, she vanished into a side passage and left the poor man to find his own way out. Days passed and Beverleigh did not return. Melissa had only meant the whole thing as a cruel joke and so in despair, she went back to the cave to look for him. She made daily treks underground, searching and calling out to him -- but Beverleigh was never seen again.

Melissa was later diagnosed with consumption and died a short time later, never recovering from her guilt over the tutor’s death. Many believe that her ghost is still seen and heard in Mammoth Cave, desperately searching for the missing man.

While the story sounds incredibly melodramatic, the reader is warned not to dismiss it too quickly. According to Gary Bremer, a former Mammoth Cave guide, there may just be something to the tale.

Several years ago, Bremer and four others were in a boat on Echo River, an underground stream that lies deep in the cave. One of the men had left to get another paddle for the boat. Bremer remembered what happened next: "The three of us in the boat all heard a woman calling out. It wasn’t screaming but it was as though she was looking for someone."

The next day, they asked some of the other guides if anyone else had ever had such an experience. One of the older guides told him about a murder that was supposed to have taken place in that area and told him the story about Melissa. Bremer had never heard the story before that time.

Strangely, it would not be his last encounter here either. A short time later, he was again on the Echo River, this time with a new employee who had never seen the river before. She suddenly turned and grabbed his shoulder. "Did you hear a woman cough?" she asked him.

Bremer felt a cold chill. Melissa had died of tuberculosis, he remembered.

The other employee would later verify Bremer’s version of their experience and would also add that she had also heard garbled voices in the cave and on one night, believed that she heard someone whisper her name.

Not all of the accounts of Mammoth Cave come from parts of the cave that are accessible to the public. Many of the strangest tales come from Crystal Cave, which was once believed to be a separate cave and was once operated as a private attraction. This cave is located along Flint Ridge, now well within the boundaries of the national park. It is not, at this time, open to the public and yet the stories that surround this portion of the cave are too mysterious to not be included here.

Most of these legends involve the ghost of a man named Floyd Collins, the former owner of Crystal Cave. Collins was not only an avid cave explorer but an established businessman too, always on the lookout for new caves that could be developed and put into service as a moneymaking enterprise.

Floyd had grown up in the area around Mammoth Cave and through his early years, his family eked out a living with a farm on Flint Ridge. He had been fascinated with caves as a boy and spent most of his childhood crawling in and out of holes that were scattered over the farm. His life as a professional caver began in 1912 though, when he met Edmund Turner. The enterprising young man roomed with the Collins family for a time and he paid young Floyd to act as a guide and to help him find caves that could be explored and developed. Turner gave him more than just money though and instilled in Floyd a knowledge of cave formations and geology. Turner’s discoveries and initial success only heightened Floyd’s interest in developing his own caves and by World War I, he was spending little time on the family farm and was instead mining onyx and exploring the caverns of the area. In the winter of 1916 - 1917, he made his greatest discovery by accident.

One day, while slipping into a crevice that he described as “breathing” (meaning that air was coming out of it from a cave below) he uncovered a crawlway that led deeper into the earth. After two weeks of digging, he emerged into a huge cavern that was encrusted with white and cream-colored gypsum flowers. Delirious with excitement, Floyd rushed back to the house and even though it was well past midnight, he roused the family and rushed them to the cave while they were still in their night clothes. The stunned family members did not emerge until after dawn.

Floyd called this discovery “Wonder Cave” but William Travis Blair, his next-door neighbor, suggested that he call it Crystal Cave instead, referring to the wondrous gypsum flowers. Floyd’s father, Lee, and his brothers helped him to enlarge the entrance and they smoothed the floors and made trails during what ended up becoming more than 12 months of hard work. While all of this was going on, Floyd was exploring new passages and chambers and continued to make discoveries that made the cave one of the showplaces of the Flint Ridge.

In 1918, the Floyd’s opened the cave and hired a manager and with that, formally entered the Cave Wars. The family began prowling the highways looking for tourists because unfortunately, the cave was located off the beaten track and could be reached by an almost impassable dirt road. Floyd and his family fought for their share of the local traffic but the odds were against them, which was too bad. Crystal Cave was reportedly amazing and tourists were given an especially rare treat if Floyd himself showed them through. He often told them of adventures that were beyond the tourist trail or would, in his enthusiasm, reach over and break off one of the gypsum flowers and hand it to the astonished visitor. Those who came loved the cave, but few made the trip and Crystal Cave refused to make money, no matter how much work was put into it.

In the lull between tourists, Floyd continued to relentlessly explore the cave but this did nothing to alter the poor business situation. The cave was only occasionally profitable and the Collins’ still had to rely on farming and other activities to remain in business. In 1920, Floyd even invested in a still and for a short time before Prohibition made legal whiskey to supplement the cave’s income. Some say that he continued this after Prohibition was passed as well. The rough economic times, as well as family problems, caused a division between Floyd and his father, who wanted to sell off the cave and get out of the business. Floyd refused and in fact, the arguments between them stiffened his resolve. He was convinced that Crystal Cave’s many passages led to connections with surrounding caves. He had already explored five or six miles of passageways and had uncovered many leads, some of which ran toward Mammoth Cave. He wanted to, like George Morrison, find a commercially exploitable opening -- and one that was found in the right place could even displace Morrison’s New Entrance and ensnare the largest share of the tourists.

Floyd carefully researched his plans. He talked with old-timers and cavers about their experiences and looked over old charts and maps. From all of this, he concluded that the most likely spot for a new opening was just over the line in Barren County on the narrow piece of land that connected the Mammoth Cave Ridge with Flint Ridge at the latter’s southeast corner. An opening here just might, Floyd thought, connect Crystal Cave with Mammoth.

Floyd recalled from his past explorations that a sand hole existed on the farm of Beesley Doyle. Since Doyle was only one of three farmers controlling this area, Floyd began negotiations with him, as well as Edward Estes and Jesse Lee, the other owners. Of the three of them, only Estes was a caver, often raiding local caves for the onyx, which he sold to tourists. Floyd offered to search their land for caves in return for one-half of the profits and the three farmers could split the other half. Only Estes originally balked at the deal but finally, prodded by the others, he also agreed.

Floyd began his explorations, starting with the hole on the Doyle farm. The press later called this hole “Sand Cave”, but this was a misnomer. It was not so much a cave as a narrow, twisting crevice that led downward. It had been opened due to the collapse of a larger cavern centuries before and the passageway skirted the edge of an overhanging shelter’s back wall. Floyd chose this route, which was covered with sandstone debris, because he thought it might be a shortcut to what he hoped was solid limestone below. He had no idea where it might lead but hoped for either a new passage to Mammoth Cave, a back door to his own Crystal Cave or even an entirely new cave altogether.

Floyd stayed with the Doyle’s for the next two weeks as he began to dig out an entrance and to begin a descent into the crumbling passage. He returned home to his parent’s house on weekends and his father constantly chastised him for the time and attention that he was paying to his new project. Not only that, Lee Floyd insisted, but the hole was dangerous and he warned Floyd that he was liable to get caught in it. His mother also chimed in. She confided to her son that she had dreamed that Floyd would get caught in a rock fall and would be rescued by angels. She was convinced that the dream had been a warning from God. She begged him not to return to the cave -- but Floyd did not listen.

At the beginning of his third week of work at Sand Cave, Floyd moved over to stay with the Estes family but left his work clothes at the Doyle farm because it was closer to the site. His progress in the cave was rapid, especially after his use of dynamite on Monday. On Thursday, he hauled some stalactites out of the cave to show to Doyle and Estes as evidence of the wonders that he was sure were waiting below. On Friday morning, January 30, 1925 -- Floyd Collins entered Sand Cave for the last time.

When Floyd did not return to either the Doyle or Estes homes by Saturday morning, it was realized that someone should go and check the sand hole and to make sure that he was all right. Unfortunately, he was not. While winding his way through the narrow passage, a rock worked its way loose from the shattered stone and fell on his left foot. He became wedged in against the wall and was unable to work himself out. He was lying on his right side and his right leg was locked at an awkward angle. His left arm remained free but in the cold dampness of the cave, it quickly became numb. During the night, Floyd had fallen asleep and when he awakened, he discovered that his lantern had gone out. He could only wait and hope that someone came to his aid.

When Floyd’s family and friends arrived on Saturday, they immediately set to work trying to free him. They managed to work his upper body loose and to warm him up with a gasoline lantern but that was all. With Floyd still trapped, they began widening the narrow opening into the cave and removed two bushels of rocks but even this did not help. Floyd’s brother, Homer, climbed down into the passage to spend the night with his brother as rescue attempts were called off for the day. Not sure of what else to do, Lee Collins offered a $500 reward to anyone who could free his son. It was becoming clear to the crowd that was beginning to gather outside that the rescue would not be a simple one.

By Monday morning, newspapers across the United States had begun to report his predicament. Hundreds of people congregated outside Sand Cave. Members of the Louisville Fire Department were on hand, as well as experienced cavers, concerned locals and many who simply meant well but had no real experience with such predicaments. Many of them tried to reach Floyd with supplies and comfort and while many of them made it, most turned back, paralyzed with fear at the narrowness of the passageway.

As mentioned, newspapers all over the country reported on the trap that Floyd had gotten himself into. A number of reporters tried to reach Floyd for interviews but the most successful was a cub reporter from theLouisville Courier-Journal named William Burke “Skeets” Miller, who later won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage. Miller’s nickname (for “mosquito”) came from his diminutive size, which enabled him to slide down the narrow path and sit with Floyd where he was trapped. He made eight descents into the cave and conducted a series of interviews that were quickly relayed to his readers as a first-hand account of what it was like to be literally buried alive.

Days passed and began to turn into several weeks. There had been attempts to bodily hoist Floyd from the cave (he had requested it -- even if his foot was pulled off) and an assortment of wild schemes, but none of them had worked. The local attempts soon became a national crisis involving dozens of miners, the National Guard, the Red Cross and a number of engineers. Thanks to the inclement weather, the crumbling walls of the cave passage, and often just confusion, Floyd could not be freed.

Many would later claim that Floyd became secondary to the scene on the surface. Fascinated by the daily reports from the reporters on the scene, an estimated 20,000 onlookers streamed into the area. Some of them hoped to help or catch a glimpse of the now heroic Floyd but others simply wanted to exploit the event by selling food, drinks and souvenirs. The circus-like atmosphere reached its peak in mid-February and the steady stream of curiosity-seekers continued.

Finally, a group of men managed to work their way into the cave and began trying to pry loose the rock that trapped Floyd’s leg. They had widened the passageway and as they worked, the rock finally came free -- then immediately slipped back into place wedging Floyd’s leg even more securely into place. The worked it back and forth but it was no use. Then, to make the situation even more dire, a series of small cave-ins occurred, crashing down onto Floyd and cutting him off from the surface. His would-be rescuers, after discovering that Floyd was still alive, scurried back to the surface. From that point on, none of the workers would return to the cave, fearing that the entire shaft might collapse. Homer Collins was enraged that no one would attempt to save his brother and he clashed with the authorities. Eventually, he was banned from the site.

Since no one would go back into the hole, a new plan was devised. A vertical shaft was started a short distance away with plans for it to intersect with the spot where Floyd was trapped. Friends, family and volunteers worked feverishly and on February 16, the shaft finally reached Floyd. Tragically though, he had died three days earlier -- on Friday the 13th -- from exposure and exhaustion.

People all over America had been riveted to the story of Floyd Collins and his plight had been front page news in newspapers and the source of constant updates on the radio for weeks. The press had descended on the Mammoth Cave area and had turned the region upside-down. What was not reported so widely was the fact that it took an additional two months to finally remove Floyd’s lifeless body from the cave.

The tragedy brought national attention to the Kentucky cave country, but it also created a backlash, leading many to wonder if the caves were safe. The tourist trade was temporarily affected, with the small commercial caves suffering the most. This was at the height of the previously mentioned "Cave Wars" and now the smaller caves were fighting one another for an even smaller piece of the pie. Even Crystal Cave, which should have still managed to draw business thanks to the Floyd Collins name, was hurt by the slump. As a result, Floyd’s father, Lee Collins, was even more anxious to sell the place than he had been when Floyd was alive.

In 1927, he accepted an offer from Dr. Harry B. Thomas, a local dentist, to take Crystal Cave off his hands for $10,000. Dr. Thomas already owned two other commercial caves in the area, Hidden River Cave and Mammoth Onyx Cave. In the transfer of property, Thomas was authorized to move Floyd Collins’ body from its resting place and re-locate it in Crystal Cave, where it would be given a new burial spot. The Collins family, of course, objected to this, but it was too late. Lee Collins had already signed the deal.

Thomas wanted to move Floyd’s body because he was sure that it would be a huge moneymaker for Crystal Cave. He had the body exhumed and then placed it in a glass-covered, bronzed metal coffin, opening it for public viewing in June 1927. It was placed in the middle of the tourist trail leading to Crystal Cave’s main concourse. Here, visitors could pass by and look at him as they walked deeper into the cave. He had a large granite tombstone placed at Floyd’s head. Granted, the stunt was ghoulish but it worked. Hundreds flocked to see Floyd’s body and in his death, he became the cave’s greatest advertisement. The guides would lecture solemnly about the exploits of the "world’s greatest cave explorer" while the tourists gawked at the white, waxed face of the man in the coffin.

The Collins family sued Thomas and the case was battled out in court for several years. In 1929, the courts ruled (hopefully reluctantly) that Collins’ body could stay where it was. Dr. Thomas had the legal right to the macabre display. Floyd would remain where he was in Crystal Cave --- or at least that was the general idea.

At some point on the night of March 18, 1929, Floyd’s body was stolen from its glass coffin and spirited out of the cave. The theft was discovered the next morning and authorities from three counties were enlisted to help in the search. The casket was dusted for fingerprints and bloodhounds, after being given Floyd’s scent, scoured the surrounding area. Before the day was over, the missing body was discovered (minus the left leg), about 800 yards from the cave’s entrance. It had been wrapped in burlap bags and hidden in the brush along the Green River.

The cadaver was back in its coffin the following day, a little worse for wear, although the missing leg was never found. The identity of the thieves was also never discovered, although many of the local folks had their suspicions.

The prime suspect was Dr. Thomas himself. Although he maintained that he could not guess the motives of the body-snatchers, there were those who believed that he had stolen the body himself in an effort to boost business at Crystal Cave (which it did). Others, however, blamed competing cave owners, jealous over Thomas’ newfound success and some believed that the Collins family had nabbed the corpse, or had hired it done, and they had lost the body before they could get away.

Regardless, after the attempted theft, the casket was covered each night with a metal lid and was securely locked. As time passed, the body was shown infrequently, although tourists were still asked to pause at the casket and listen to a short spiel offered in memory of the fallen cave explorer. The body continued to be displayed on occasion as late as 1952, although it remained in the cave for years after, long after it was closed to the public.

Many years after his actual death, Floyd Collins was finally buried at the Baptist Church cemetery up on Flint Ridge Road. His grave can easily be found here today. The last time that I visited here, I found a plastic bag that had been left behind on his tombstone with a note that was inscribed "To Floyd". Inside of the waterproof bag were a handful of matches and a candle-- the best friends of an old-time cave explorer. Even after all of this time, Floyd Collins has not been forgotten. Could that be because his ghost is still around?

Over the past several years, Crystal Cave has not been accessible to the public, although it has been charted and explored by national park employees and by a limited number of spelunkers. The fact that these veteran cave explorers have encountered weird phenomena in the cave dismisses the idea that the ghost stories here are merely the result of the overactive imaginations of tourists who are unfamiliar with the ordinary happenings in a cave.

A few years back, a group of Mammoth Cave employees were on an after-hours excursion in Crystal Cave and they noticed an old whiskey bottle that was resting on a rock ledge. One of the men in the group picked it up and looked at it and then placed it back on the ledge where he had found it. The group walked on deeper into the cave.

Later on in the evening, one of the men was walking back toward the cave entrance and was just passing by the old whiskey bottle when he heard a strange sound. "It was just behind my ear," he stated. "I heard a sound as though someone had flicked a finger against glass... a clink. I turned around just in time to see the bottle hit the ground."

Another man who was with him jumped back in shock. He claimed that the whiskey bottle had not just fallen, but that it had come straight out from the wall and had just dropped! "The little clink was loud enough to make me look back toward the ledge," he remembered, "and as I did, the bottle actually came out and then went right down in front of me. It was very bizarre."

Could the ghostly activity in the cave be attributed to the ghost of Floyd Collins? If there were an identity to be given to this ghost, he would certainly be everyone’s first choice.

Another tale from Crystal Cave is attributed to a former employee named George Wood, who filed it as a report back in 1976. He wrote that he and another employee, Bill Cobb, had spent a day in June checking springs for a study on groundwater flow in central Kentucky. They didn’t make it to the last spring until after dark and it was located near the old and abandoned Collins house on Flint Ridge.

Cobb went to the spring while Wood waited near the truck. After a few moments, he heard the sound of a man crying out in the darkness. At first, he thought it was his friend calling for help, but the voice seemed too high-pitched. It was also so faint that he had to listen carefully to hear what it was saying.

The voice cried: "Help me! Help me! Help me, I’m trapped! Johnny, help me!" It called out over and over again.

As he stood there on the edge of the dark road, he felt a cold chill run down his back. He vividly recalled hearing and reading about Floyd Collins and how he was trapped in Sand Cave --- which was located just a short distance from where he was standing!

A few minutes later, Cobb returned and Wood asked him if he had been calling for him. The other man had heard nothing while at the spring, but after hearing Wood’s account, admitted that he was spooked. In fact, they both were and didn’t waste any time in getting back in the truck and driving off.

Could the spectral voice have really belonged to Floyd Collins? And if so, could the "Johnny" that was heard in the mysterious cry have referred to Johnny Gerald, a friend of Floyd’s and the last person to speak with him before the cave collapse sealed him off from rescue? Is his spirit still trapped in the cave, or could the sound have been merely an eerie echo of yesterday?

So, are they really ghosts in famous Mammoth Cave? If the stories of witnesses and guides from almost the past two centuries can be believed, there are. Combine these accounts with hesitant reports from scientists and trained skeptics, who can’t explain what they have encountered in the cave, and you certainly have an unusual situation on your hands!

But if nothing else, the cave is certainly ripe for a haunting and the legends alone draw thousands of eager visitors each year. The mystery, the history, the cave explorers who have never returned, the tragedy, the terror and the death have created just what may be one of the most haunted places in the world!

Parks Canada Buildings (Throughout City), Dawson CityThere are many historical buildings in the Dawson City area that have been said to be haunted, but there are a few that are more prominent than others. The first is the Commissioner's Residence. Anyone will tell tourists that the place is beautiful inside, but few will venture inside. It was built at the turn of the century and the last commissioner to stay there was the Blacks in 1916. After that it was used as senior citizens home. Apparitions have been reported as well as voices, and footsteps on the higher floors. The second historical building to be focused upon is the Palace Grand Theatre. Klondike Kate is said to haunt her former dressing room. She was welcomed to the "Paris of the North" with great acclaim. She was a wonderful show person and died at the age of 80. The theater open in 1899 and is now housing performances that reflect the old west. Klondike Kate's hay-day was most certainly at this hotel and so it is where she stays. There are many other buildings to be seen (such as the Administration Building), but none so haunted as these two.

Westminster Hotel, Dawson CityIn 1898 the Westminster Hotel came to Dawson City and was set up (as all things in Dawson City were) as a direct result of the Klondike Gold Rush. In 1901 it was officially registered and is also known by its other name, "The Pit." It was a grocery store in the very beginning with some rooms to let upstairs, but not enough to call it a hotel. It floats on ice and is considered to be preserved in the best condition as possible. Voices, things going bump in the night, and objects moving through the rooms have also been reported. With its long history, how can it not?

Dezadeash Lodge, DezadeashDezadeash Lodge itself is said to be in ruins and abandoned. It sits on the lake of Dezadeash and the view is said to be something else. There are many rumors about the lodge, but from what has been heard there is ghost that is lodged here. It is said to be very creepy and strange noises have been experienced from within as well as shadows being seen. Dezadeash Lodge was originally known as the BeLoud Post. It was a full service lodge for those who were coming to this area for the gold rush. Fishing and skiing is the prime appeal of the area now, but few who look at the Lodge must suppress a shudder for what they believe is inside.

Source: Yahoo Voices!

Submitted by: Braeden Trefry

Dezadeash Lake, Yukon, Unorganized, YT, Canada

Whitehorse Cadet Summer Training CenterThere is a haunted barrack at the Whitehorse Cadet Summer Training Center. Before it was the before said training center, this place was a youth detention center. In the B2 barracks it was said that an inmate hung himself from the rafters. Many have claimed that there is the sound of this inmate calling out in the midnight.

Wabasha Street CavesFrom the outside, the Wabasha Street Caves looks like a normal building. The structure itself was built into the side of a cliff back in the late eighteen-hundreds and used for mining silica.

Over the years, this structure has been popular as a gangster hideout, a place for mushroom farmers to grow their products, nightclubs and more. Today the Wabasha Street Caves offer fine dining, entertainment and tours.

The paranormal reports here continue to this day. The apparition of a gentleman wearing a Panama hat has been seen in various areas of the caves. Another male apparition is said to spend his time with a female apparition at the bar and the two are often seen together around three in the morning. Also, a second female apparition has been spotted roaming throughout the passageways.

In the early 1930’s, three gangsters were reportedly gunned down within the caves. One of the gangster’s apparitions has been seen in full-bodied, solid form and has appeared right in front of unsuspecting patrons in the cave corridors! All three of the gangster’s apparitions have been seen by a few children and have even been reported to play with them before disappearing into thin air!

The Koestler Parapsychology Unit (KPU) is a research group based in the Psychology Department at the University of Edinburgh.

Established in 1985, it consists of academic staff and postgraduate students who teach and research various aspects of parapsychology, including:

- the possible existence of psychic ability- belief in the paranormal- the psychology of anomalous experiences- pseudo-psychic deception and self- deception- the social and historical relevance of parapsychology.br/>

A form of silent rebellion, the slaves at Magnolia often used voodoo to cast evil wishes on their oppressive masters. The enslaved blacksmiths were tasked with forming the metal Christian crosses that marked the Lecomte family graves. While the crosses were beautifully ornate, they also included West African voodoo symbols hidden within the design.

As the Civil War ravaged the American South, Federal soldiers closed in on Magnolia's main house and turned it into a stronghold. The slave quarters were then named sharecropper housing; however, the lives of slaves did not change much. Instead of being owned property and working only for room and board, the slaves became free sharecroppers, working for script they could only use at the plantation store -- again, mostly for room and board. The enslaved workers continued to use voodoo as spiritual revenge for such an unfair life.

c-base: hacker institution A girl at the bar tells us, “Anybody can make a project. If you want to learn how to splice some thingy onto a copper plate, five people will be there in two minutes helping you out.” In the downstairs workshops, members are heads down, fiddling with engineering tools or computers. One pair is building a complex 3D animation model, using donated tech from the overflowing shelves of gadgets, cables and old computer equipment. In another room, a typical c-baser – male, thirty-something, decent looking, black t-shirt and jeans – stares lost into his monitor. “What are you doing?” we ask. “Breaking the internet,” he smugly replies. Indeed.

Central State Hospital or Asylum, was deemed the "hospital for the insane" by the Indiana state legislature, and opened its doors in November of 1848 and was finally closed down in 1999. The site consists of several buildings on a large plot of land on the west side of Indianapolis.Many of the buildings at this location are alleged to be haunted due to some of the atrocities that took place while the asylum was still in service. Whether it is or not, as any haunted attraction is concerned, is debatable. But I can say that the vibe of this place creates a certain tension in the air that could be described as....well....off.

The island was uninhabited until 1885, when Riverside Hospital moved there from Blackwell's Island (now known as Roosevelt Island). Riverside Hospital was founded in the 1850s as the Smallpox Hospital to treat and isolate victims of that disease. Its mission eventually expanded to other quarantinable diseases.

The island was the site of the wreck of the General Slocum, a steamship which burned on June 15, 1904. Over 1,000 people died either from the fire on board the ship or from drowning before the ship was beached on the island's shores.[1]

Typhoid Mary was confined to the island for over two decades until she died there in 1938.[2][3] The hospital closed shortly thereafter.

Situated between the Bronx and Riker’s Island is a small parcel of land in the East River known as North Brother Island. For any urban explorer, due to the island’s proximity to the city, airport, power plant, water treatment facility and Riker’s prison, it's monitored by both the NYPD and coast guard. So if you want to visit, you must be very sneaky.

Smithtown natives are already aware of the supernatural occurrences at Katie's of Smithtown. Swinging doors, mysterious footsteps, and other poltergeist phenomena have become common occurrences since Brian "Big Bri" Karppinen opened Katie's in 2000, and those strange happenings have since become legendary in the Town of Smithtown.

In fact, Smithtown natives had already been turning the rumor mill about the building's "curse" decades before Brian purchased and renovated the beloved Katie's. Unafraid of those spooky rumors, Big Bri set up shop in the historical building, and was soon hosting theme nights. On one such night, psychics were invited to come in and speak with Katie's patrons. After the event, psychic Janet Russell informed Brian that a spirit, identifying himself as Charlie, frequently visited and considers the bar his hangout. Skeptical at first, Brian invited different psychics to the bar, but did not inform them about the previous medium's experience. As before, the mysterious Charlie appeared, and Brian began to learn more about the spirit's love of girls, cigars, fine beers, and tossing the occational wine glass.

Bar patrons and Katie's staff all reported occurrences of poltergeist movements in the bar: glasses shattering, the sound of footsteps when no one else was around, doors closing on their own, and people walking through walls. Additionally, some had reported seeing someone or something dark crawling on the floor downstairs. Brian was also experiencing these phenomena first-hand. Hearing rumors of the phenomena at Katie's, A&E's paranormal specialists from Paranormal State contacted a local, Karin Marcello, to confirm the reports they'd been getting. Upon her confirmation and intrigued by the activities, the team traveled to New York to investigate. Through their Intensive investigation, the PRS team found evidence of more than one entity. Additionally, the famed ghost-busters found out through their further research and interviews that the land on which the Katie's building site does, indeed, have a long and often chilling history...

The Traynor Hotel burned down on the spot on which Katie's sits in 1909. Investigators sense that a dark entity in the basement level is someone who had worked in the hotel and died when he was crushed in the fire. Famed psychic Chip Coffey asserts that another dark entity is a 16. century, Dutch-born murderer. Coffey senses that the spirit is remaining on this Earthly plane because he is fearful of Hell. These entities are especially interesting to the investigators because of the effect their presence has an those who encounter them: nausea, heaviness In the chest, difficulty breathing, sleep-paralysis, and even out-of-body experiences. Further, the team became intimately acquainted with these spirits when two of the investigators and one crew member were "attacked or violated" (Ryan Buell, 2008).

Katie's most famous ghost, a bootlegger and bartender named Charlie Klein, did, in fact, live across the street from Katie's during the 19200 prohibition era - and ultimately killed himself before the decade was out. One Smithtown elder even admitted that his own children, who lived in the building, had spoken of Charlie's appearances over the years. Since Paranormal State's initial investigation, Brian was since been able to get in touch with the mysterious Charlie's own decedents, inviting them to the bar and celebrating the late bartender's life, perhaps in the hopes that honoring his memory would purge the bar of his restless spirit.

Skeptics speculated that glasses were tossed due to a train passing, but investigators, using a seismograph, debunked their theory. Skeptics further asserted that a heavy feeling in the chest and other physical symptoms experienced in the basement were due to a gas leak. This theory was debunked as well, as Katie's has not had a gas hookup in the building since 1991, and no leak was detected with testing. To this day the phenomena continue. The Investigators from Paranormal State returned again in 2008 for an update, only to confine that the spirits remain.

Letchworth Village rests on a placid corner of rural Thiells, a hamlet west of Haverstraw set amid the gentle hills and vales of the surrounding Ramapos. A short stretch of modest farmhouses separates this former home for the mentally disabled from the serene Harriman State Park, New York’s second largest. Nature has been quick to reclaim its dominion over these unhallowed grounds, shrouding an unpleasant memory in a thick green veil. Abandonment becomes this “village of secrets,” intended from its inception to be unseen, forgotten, and silent as the tomb.

Owing to its reputed paranormal eccentricities, Letchworth Village has become a well-known subject of local legend. These strange tales had me spooked as I turned the corner onto Letchworth Village Road after a suspenseful two-hour drive from Brooklyn. Rounding a declining bend, I caught my first glimpse of Letchworth’s sprawling decay—some vine-encumbered ruin made momentarily visible through a stand of oak. Down the hazy horseshoe lanes of the boy’s ward, one by one, the ghosts came out.

This small hospital is surrounded with rumors of being haunted by the ghosts of “insane" children, the nuns who supposedly tortured them, and even a burial site on the grounds. Aside from rumor, the only legit-sounding historical information I could find is the following:

It was originally a residence built circa 1870 and changed hands for a few years, until a Doctor Bernardi purchased it to be used as a Tuberculosis clinic. In 940 it was sold to the Italian Red Cross (Croce Rossa), who apparently treated young children with physical and mental illnesses (TB, epilepsy, etc).

In 1837, the Newark Street Jail was constructed to house criminals from the Essex County, New Jersey, at a cost of $30,000. It replaced the prison at the county courthouse, which burned completely in 1835. The architect John Haviland, designer of the state prison in Trenton, envisioned a two-story square building attached to a cell block wing, crafted from brownstone and brick. Garden paths, courtyards, and a greenhouse were included for the better-behaved inmates to work at and enjoy. In the 1890s, the facility was expanded with new buildings as well as additions to the main structure; technological improvements included running water and sewerage. The name of the facility was changed to the Essex County Jail, and eventually exapnded to include over 300 cells. An interesting (but hard to see) feature at this facility are the thick glass panes installed as flooring for the narrow catwalks that line the cell blocks; designed so guards could keep an eye out above and below. Although covered with years of grime and garbage, they are still mostly intact and sturdy.

Jackson Sanatorium 'Castle on the Hill'In its lifetime, the Jackson Sanatorium has had many names and uses. First a rehabilitative health center, Dr. James Caleb Jackson created the first breakfast cereal. After the Civil War, people came to cleanse in the natural springs of the then, "Our Home on the Hillside". The army also used the building as a psychiatric hospital for World War I veterans. The sanatorium closed for good in 1971 but still explorable.

Anson, Texas is a small town located 20 miles north of Abilene on Highway 83/84. It is the home of a well known yet unexplained phenomena that has simultaneously delighted, terrified, and baffled visitors for decades––the Anson Ghost Lights.

Hundreds of people have traveled from far and wide to witness these strange illuminations, and the process for conjuring the lights seems to be unanimously agreed upon.

When entering Anson, turn right at the Alsupps and travel until you come upon the graveyard just outside of town. Turn right down the dirt road that travels along the cemetery. At the crossroads, turn your car around so it is facing back towards the main road. Turn off your engine and flash your headlights three times. Within a few minutes you will see the light appear.

Most describe it as a slow moving white light that travels down the road towards your car. Some have seen it swing wildly from side to side, and others have seen it dance among nearby treetops. It is never accompanied by any noise. Sometimes it changes colors––some say that if one disrespects the light by taunting or cursing at it, it turns red. It usually ranges in size from appearing to be a flashlight to being the headlight of a motorcycle. Some have seen it start at its regular size then grow to immense proportions as it travels down the lonely unpaved road. Usually, if one travels towards the light in an attempt to touch it, it fades away and disappears. Sometimes it appears not as one light, but as several small lights.

The lights tend to appear on warm, clear nights. They never appear in the rain and usually do not show up when it is cloudy.

The lights, stories say, are caused by the ghost of a woman who lived in Anson in the 1800’s. She is forever wandering the area, looking for her sons. They had lived together on the road where the lights now appear. The three boys were sent to chop wood one night, and were told that if they encountered any trouble they should flash their lantern three times. They did so, but by the time their mother managed to get to them to find out what the danger in question was, all three boys had been killed. When visitors flash their car lights, the woman’s spirit emerges, carrying her own lantern, hoping to find her boys.

Resurrection Mary Google 'Chicago's most famous ghost' and every websites says Resurrection Mary. This young apparition has been appearing along Archer Avenue and in the area's most hopping dance halls since the 1930s. Dozens of people have reported seeing her, and all of the stories seem to have a similar theme.

The story of Resurrection Mary is a typical vanishing hitchhiker scenario: The first report of Mary's existance was from Jerry Palus in 1939. Jerry was at one of his favorite dance halls when he noticed a beautiful blonde woman. They danced all night, and she asked him to give her a ride home down Archer Avenue. She got out in front of Resurrection Cemetery and disappeared.

Another report was recorded by Suburban Trib columnist Bill Geist. He interviewed a cab driver in 1979 who claimed that he picked up a young woman in a white party dress and matching shoes. As he drove down Archer she told him to stop the car. When he did, she disappeared.

Several other men have reported giving a ride to a young women in a white dress who instructed them to drive her down Archer, then disappeared when they get close to the cemetary. There have also been dozens of reports made by people who either had to slam on the brakes because a young girl in a white dress ran out in front of the car or who have seen her walking down the middle of the road.

In 1976 a couple reported seeing a young girl who appeared to be locked inside the cemetery. When police went to search for her they found that the bars on the front gate had been burned; but the burns were shaped like hand prints. The cemetery denied it was anything but a maintenance accident and eventually sawed off the bars to stop the flood of people who came to see it.

So who was Resurrection Mary? Nobody is really sure. Some people thinkshe was Mary Bregovy who died in a 1934 car accident. (Although the ghost has always been said to have shoulder-length blonde hair, and Mary Bregovy had short dark hair.)

Logan InnIt’s no coincidence that New Hope’s Ghost Tour attraction starts at the corner of Main and Ferry streets. That’s the site of the Logan Inn, a much-storied haunted hotel that mixes old-school fireside spook stories with a line of more credible tales. Amid the claims that Aaron Burr stayed there after shooting Alexander Hamilton, and is still staying there, comes a more chilling tale from just after the second world war. In 1946, during an annual street fair in the Inn’s parking lot, a palm reader named Parker Dehn and his customers heard the loud and uncontrollable screaming and weeping of a child. Subsequent annual fairs avoided the spot.

No child was found there or nearby, but the experience was so unsettling, Dehn closed up and went for a drink. That was on the opening Thursday night of the fair, and on Friday, the same thing happened. After the fair closed down, the sobbing stopped too. But the next year, the same thing happened in the same spot. By Saturday, crowds gathered around the tent to see if they could locate the source of the crying. But Dehn had had enough of the experience.

The Inn itself has plenty of stories associated with it—including windows that throw themselves open in the small hours, and apparitions of ghosts and small children. The most storied guest room is Room Six, which the innkeeper claims is haunted by a former proprietor who lost the inn because of debt.

An Evening in Logan Inn’s Room 6

There is nothing more machismo, more manly, than a good old-fashioned ghost hunt. Especially, in a place as well documented as the famous “Room 6” of the Logan Inn. So it was, on that August night that my best friend Jeff and I drove south to ultimately be humbled by the thing that dwells in that old room. We had all the proper provisions two novice fellows would need (a notebook, camera gear, audio recorder, and other paraphernalia). Most notable was the thick textbook on parapsychology that contained the documented history of the room we had booked for the night. The same tomb also listed the name of the kind woman who worked the front desk, a woman we would refer to as “The Proprietor.”

It was The Proprietor that initially held the most mystery for us. Regal in demeanor and stature she seemed every bit the lady. But every time we had seen her in the weeks leading up to our reservation a new piece of finery hid her neck from sight. It was no different on this night, a scarf wrapped around her throat in the middle of August. When we arrived she instantly knew us by name and calmly ushered us to our fated room. It was Jeff’s prerogative to keep our motives quiet, but I couldn’t help but tell her our plans and the fact that she was written about in a credited book on the paranormal. The mountain of gear gave us away anyway--we were either there to catch ghosts or do something worse.

The room was very small with no scent of lavender

as described in several books. Beyond the new paint and TV (in an old oak cabinet) you could see the history of the place just hidden under the skin of amenity. But there was nothing odd or supernatural to be noticed. After we set up our gear we went down to the porch to have dinner. We had laughed at the sign that swung in the summer night. It read “Fine Food, Lodging, and Spirits.” So far we had two out of the three.

Upon our return to room 6 The Proprietor was waiting with a smirk telling us that the portrait outside our room was an image of the owner’s grandparents from Bolivia, and that it wass the owner’s mother who is said to haunt our quarters. We were gone maybe an hour but now square in the center of the far wall of the room we discovered a wet hand print with elongated fingers that was definitely NOT there when we had left. Alarmed but skeptical, I began to orate our findings in my micro-recorder. As I was playing it back my heart leapt with wonder and horror. At precisely the moment Jeff’s hand touched the print on the wall an inhuman, raspy sigh seemed to float off the tape. With tears in my eyes I played it back to him causing him to almost burn a hole in the hardwood floor with his frantic pacing.

We had come looking for evidence but we didn’t really want to find it. We ran several variable tests to see if any other ambient noises could have made the noise on our tape but even when pointed directly at the traffic it didn’t pick up anything remotely like what we’d heard.

For the rest of night we did everything we could to avoid the room for as long as possible. There was now a tangible feeling that there was something else in there with us. We wandered the town, visited a spider-infested bridge, and procrastinated returning to our digs as long as we could. When we make our way back The Proprietor was grinning even broader, wishing us a good night’s sleep with a toss of her scarf. We finally went to bed at around 4:30. Wide-eyed we stared into the darkness around us trying to focus our thoughts on the continental breakfast waiting for us should we survive the night. Very manly, indeed. –Ryan Doan

You can read about all of Pennsylvania’s other haunted hotspots in Weird Pennsylvania.

Historic Anchorage HotelCurtains rumbling, shower curtains swaying, pictures flying—it's all par for the course at the Historic Anchorage Hotel. Stories of ghostly happenings have been circulating at the hotel for many years and are considered to be related to the death of the first Chief of Police, Jack Sturgus. On February 20, 1921 at 9:15 p.m., Anchorage's first Police Chief John J. "Black Jack" Sturgus was found shot in the back with a bullet from his own gun, steps away from the Historic Anchorage Hotel. It is rumored that his ghost returns to the scene of the crime each year, haunting the location of his untimely death, seeking justice for a crime still unsolved to this day.

Sightings are so frequent that we keep a ghost log in which a number of our guests have shared their encounters. In addition to the ghost of Jack Sturgus, there are several different specters that past guests have seen make their way through our halls and facilities.

Edinburgh VaultsThe frequent reports of paranormal activity and ghost sightings resulted on Living TV's, Most Haunted, to investigate the vaults in both a 24 hour investigation and for a Most Haunted Live show on Halloween 2006, in which Scottish Investigator Ryan O'Neill took part in due to his paranormal knowledge of this location.[5] The television show Ghost Adventures investigated the vaults and claimed to have numerous encounters with spirits there.[6]

In 2001, Professor Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertfordshire invited subjects to spend time in the Edinburgh Vaults. His study concluded that people who believed in ghosts reported more supernatural experiences than disbelievers, that participants consistently reported unusual sensations in areas they were told were haunted, and that there was an increased report of incidents in Vault rooms with a decidedly more sinister visual appearance or stronger cold air flow. Professor Wiseman’s study suggests that visitors may help create the haunted experience they expect to find in the Vaults.

However in 2009 a BBC TV production team filming a one-off TV special featuring Joe Swash recorded unexplained voices in the vaults during an overnight sleepover by Swash. One voice appeared to be that of a Catholic priest reciting the Last Rites. Swash was the only person in the vaults and did not hear the voices himself at the time of recording, despite the sounds being audible on his own microphone. The voices continued to be heard on the recording for some 20 minutes before abruptly ceasing after what appears to be the sound of children yelling. BBC sound engineers initially thought the sounds may be explained by voices drifting into the tunnels from nightclubs nearby but this was found to be incorrect and no other logical explanation could be found. The recordings were broadcast as part of the finished program Joe Swash Believes in Ghosts on BBC Three in January 2010.[7][8]

Lots of different sightings witnessed by people, staff and other paranormal investigators. The most notable is ghost of a man with no face that gives off an evil presence.

The Old JailEvery day in the town of Jim Thorpe in Carbon County, a hanged man proclaims his innocence in the only way a dead man can. Since 1877, his hand has been raised in protest in the last home he ever had—the Carbon County Jail cell number 17. This permanent marker on the cell wall has resisted cleaning, repainting, and even replastering. A couple of days after every attempt to cover it up, the handprint comes back. And a story of persecution by evil mine owners comes back with it.

The coal barons of the late 1800s were an unscrupulous band of moneygrubbers who kept the mostly Irish and Welsh workforce squashed firmly under their thumbs. As the miners chipped away at the anthracite deposits in the Pennsylvania mountainside, they earned only pennies—and the coal barons sopped the cost of their supplies out of that meager pittance. It was a social situation that often leads to revolution—and the revolutionaries in this scene were the Molly Maguires. This secret society committed acts of sabotage and, according to the coal barons, murder (something the management knew plenty about, since they stooped

to it themselves if their profits were threatened). Of course, the plutocrats had money, power, and therefore the law on their side, which made it all the easier to dispose of troublemakers. In a series of trumped-up trials, the

During one of the Molly Maguire trials, the inhabitant of Cell 17 vehemently proclaimed his innocence, but he was sentenced to death anyway. On hanging day, before he was taken from his cell, he slapped his hand, dirty from the cell floor, on the wall, and exclaimed “This is the hand of an innocent man!”

In those days, innocence was no defense, so he died that day. But his handprint remained, and came back even after it was scrubbed off. Over the next century, the cell was cleaned, repainted, replastered—and always the hand reappeared in a day or so. It’s still there to this day, and on exhibit at the Old Jail Museum, housed in the old Carbon County Jailhouse. Tours are offered daily—where you can see not only the handprint, but also the National Enquirer article telling the story of it. As museum displays go, the article is a pretty sensational read—but then again, the story is pretty sensational too.

You can read more accounts of Pennsylvania’s many Unexplained Phenomena in Weird Pennsylvania.

Elizabeth Báthory (The Blood Countess)Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed (Báthory Erzsébet in Hungarian, Alžbeta Bátoriová in Slovak; 7 August 1560 – 21 August 1614) was acountess from the renowned Báthory family of nobility in the Kingdom of Hungary. She has been labelled the most prolific female serial killer in history and is remembered as the "Blood Countess," though the precise number of victims is debated.

After her husband Ferenc Nádasdy's death, she and four collaborators were accused of torturing and killing hundreds of girls, with one witness attributing to them over 650 victims, though the number for which they were convicted was 80.[1] Due to her rank, Elizabeth herself was neither tried nor convicted. But upon her arrest in December 1610, she was imprisoned in Čachtice Castle, now in Slovakia, where she remained immured in a set of rooms until her death four years later.

Later writings[citation needed] about the case have led to legendary accounts of the Countess bathing in the blood of virgins[citation needed] to retain her youth and subsequently also to comparisons with Vlad III the Impaler of Wallachia, on whom the fictional Count Dracula is partly based, and to modern nicknames of the Blood Countess and Countess Dracula.

Warwick CastleFirst built in the 11th century by none other than William the Conqueror, Warwick has seen more battles than perhaps any other castle in Europe. It has found peace in recent years, but the spirits still linger. Its eroded walls and faded battlements tell the tale of a long hard life for the spirits that now walk its halls.The ghost tower is said to be one of the castle's most haunted areas, as Sir Fulke Greville still wanders its interior. Murdered by his manservant in 1628, he is said to materialize from his portrait late on cold evenings. The castle dungeon, home to all sorts of past torment, also seems to be quite haunted. Many visitors complain of vertigo and nausea upon touching the dungeon apparatuses.

Moosham CastleBuilt by the Prince-Bishops of Salzburg, Moosham Castle has a strange and sinister past. Hundreds of witches were beheaded within the walls of Moosham, and many still haunt the Austrian castle. Due to these hauntings, the castle is known colloquially as the Witches Castle.

In addition to being home to a coven of creepy witch ghosts, Moosham is also allegedly the lair of the werewolf. During the 1800's, Moosham saw a sudden preponderance of mutilated cattle and deer corpses. As a consequence of this, several Moosham residents were tried and imprisoned as werewolves.

Dragsholm CastleSome places are simply haunted by a ghost or two, but Dragsholm, located on an islet in Denmark, is allegedly home to 100 ghosts. How anyone came to take inventory on the ghosts and find such a round number was likely done with some relation to Dragsholm tourism development, but the place is wicked haunted, having functioned as both a prison and a battle fortification. Some consider it the most haunted castle in the world.

Of the many stories about Dragsholm's ghosts, perhaps the most terrifying origin ghost tale involves the White Lady. Before she wandered the castle halls as a ghost, the White Lady was just a girl – a girl who was in love with one of the castle laborers. As a member of nobility, her father, and owner of the castle, condemned the relationship, but the affair persisted. Eventually, the father grew so angry about the ongoing affair that he imprisoned his daughter in the walls of the castle. She was not seen again until hundreds of years later. In the 20th century, during some routine castle remodeling, workers found a skeleton in one of the walls. The skeleton was wearing a white gown.

Eltz CastleA picturesque castle with one of the richest interiors in all of Deutschland, Eltz rises up out of the surrounding Mosel forest as if boasting its longevity to the surrounding environs. A testament to its strength as a stronghold, Eltz Castle is one of few castles in the region that has never been destroyed. It is also one of just a few German castles that is said to be haunted. Allegedly, the ghosts of medieval knights still patrol the castle, which, 33 generations later, is still owned by the same original family. Imagine living in the same house as your Great X 30 grandmother.

Belcourt Castle In adjusted today dollars, Belcourt Castle cost its owner over $100 million back in the 19th century. Oliver Belmont, namesake of the Belmont stakes, heir to the Belmont family empire and poster child for turn of the century trustfund champions, built this behemoth. On its completion, Oliver chose to instead travel the world, collecting artifacts for the castle, which sounds like a pretty cool thing to do after building a gigantic home. The years were not kind to the castle and disrepair plagued it for much of the 20th century. In 1956, the mansion was sold to the Tinney family for $25,000 ($200,000 in today dollars), or about a fifth of a penny on the dollar (adjusted for inflation).

The Tinneys got a beat-up fading mansion with massive infrastructural needs – and a few ghosts. The strangest thing about Belcourt is that the hauntings allegedly come from the vast assortment of artifacts rather than the actual house. There is a haunted 15th century set of armor that lets out a blood-curdling scream every March, said to be the time that its medieval owner took a spear through the eye. In the Gothic ballroom there are haunted chairs that many claim to have been pushed out of while sitting by unknown forces.

Visiting: The owner of Belcourt Castle gives ghost tours and this May, he will be giving them on Friday and Saturday evenings. It is also open for weddings and other events. Belcourt Mansion is roughly an hour-and-a-half drive from Boston down 95 South.

Houska CastleLocated in the forests north of Prague, Houska castle was never a strategic battle location. It also appears to have no function of outside fortification. It was not built to repel attacks or to keep things out. It was built to hold something in. It was built to close the gateway to hell.

The castle is built upon a fabled bottomless pit from which winged creatures and half-man-half-beasts allegedly exited. Demonic activity persisted at this site and eventually, Bohemianrulers decided to seal up the gateway with a castle. Before sealing off Hell's realm, it is said that nearby prisoners were granted pardons if they would agree to be lowered by a rope into the hole. The story goes that the first lowered prisoner let out a yell after entering the hole. When he was raised up, he appeared to have aged over 30 years. He died of unknown causes just days later.

Wait, it gets stranger. During the 1930s, the Nazis took over the castle to conduct occult experiments with dimensional portals. Hitler, a paranormal enthusiast, was known to dabble in the occult, and it is uncertain what the scientists learned from Housksa Castle. Years later, during renovations, several Nazi officer skeletons were found, and it appeared they were killed execution style.

The recurring ghosts at Houska are plentiful, and include a giant bulldog/frog/human, a headless black horse and a woman in an old dress who is frequently seen peaking out of the top floor windows. Beneath the cellar there is said to be some nonhuman remains of the beasts that emerged from the hole.

Chillingham CastleThe appropriately named Chillingham Castle is located in the northern corner of England and has been haunting guests for a very long time. The castle served as a fortress to repel attacks from the Scots in the north and has thus seen a great deal of bloodshed. Chillingham has been featured on at least six ghost-related shows, and the webs are rife with strange pictures of its ghosts and orby videos.

So what haunts this medieval castle that appears to be plucked from Westeros? Most notably a childlike ghost, called the blue boy. The blue boy is seen regularly in the pink room as a flash of blue light and also above guests' beds as a blue halo following a loud cry. Perhaps most creepy is one of the castle's ghostly apparitions who wanders the dank halls late at night – John Sage. John Sage has a terrifyingly ridiculous backstory and was hung by Longshanksduring the war with the Scots. He can be heard dragging bodies here and there.

In May 2002 Sean Ryan, a world-class musician, and along with his wife Anne, owner of Leap Castle, found a ghostly old man sitting in a chair by a downstairs fireplace. Having bade his phantom guest "good day," Sean continued about his business. After all, a new ghost dropping by unannounced, is just part of life’s rich tapestry, when you happen to live in what has long been considered Ireland’s most haunted castle.

Standing upon a vast throne of solid rock, Leap Castle was once the stronghold of the warlike O’Carrolls and its eventful history is mostly written in their blood.

In the 16th century, O’Carroll of the Leap held a lavish banquet at his family fortress and invited a rural branch of his own sept to partake of his hospitality.

No sooner had the unfortunate guests sat down to dinner, than he massacred everyone one of them. Inter-clan bloodshed was a common occurrence and members of the tribe, attended family get togethers or re-unions at their peril!

Following the death of Mulrooney O’Carroll in 1532, a bitter dispute over succession arose. As siblings battled each other for leadership of the clan, "one-eyed" Teige O’carroll is said to have slain his own brother, who was also a priest, as he celebrated Mass in "The Bloody Chapel."

However, the days of O’Carroll occupancy were drawing to a close, and they were about to lose possession in a suitably blood- thirsty manner.

A 17th century daughter of the clan fell in love with an English soldier named Captain Darby, who was being held prisoner in the castle dungeons. She smuggled food to him and eventually engineered his escape.

As they were making their way down the staircase, her brother suddenly confronted them, and the captain silenced him with a single sword thrust.

Since his lover then became the heiress to Leap Castle, it passed into the ownership of the captain’s family when the two were later married.

The last of the family to own Leap Castle was Jonathan Charles Darby who arrived here on 16th July 1880.

In 1909, his wife Mildred wrote an article for the Occult Review describing how she had held several séances at the castle during which she had attracted the unwelcome attentions of an elemental – a primitive and malevolent force that attaches itself to a particular place. Mildred Darby described how she was "standing in the Gallery looking down at the main floor, when I felt somebody put a hand on my shoulder. The thing was the size of a sheep. Thin gaunt and shadowy… its eyes which seemed half decomposed in black cavities stared into mine. The horrible smell...gave me a deadly nausea. It was the smell of a decomposing corpse…"

Mildred’s occult dabbling also appears to have awoken other malevolent forces within the walls of Leap Castle, and it was at this time that the its fearsome reputation became firmly established.

Following its destruction by fire in 1922, workmen who had commenced gutting the interior, discovered an oubliette – a small dungeon whose name, derived from the French oublier, meaning "forget," says it all – behind a wall of the bloody chapel. This sinister little room was crammed with the mortal remains of the unfortunate victims of Leap Castle’s bloody and brutal past and three cartloads of human bones were eventually cleared away from this ghastly charnel house.

Over the next seventy years, it remained an empty shell, its fearsome reputation ensuring that the locals shunned it, particularly at night when all manner of ghostly activity was known to stir within its moss clad walls. From across the fields people would watch the window of the "Bloody Chapel" suddenly light up, as though hundreds of flickering candles were blazing within. Some, who dared walk amongst the ruins, experienced alarming encounters with a lustrous lady wearing a billowing red gown.

In 1972 the castle was purchased by an Australian of Irish decent who sold it to Sean and Anne Ryan in 1991 and Sean set about converting the ruin into a habitable family home.

Shortly afterwards, restoration was suddenly halted when the ladder he was working from was inexplicably pushed away from the wall forcing him to jump several stories and sustain a fractured knee.

No sooner had he resumed work, than another freak accident caused him to break an ankle. "We began to think that we weren’t welcome here," Anne Ryan stoically observed.

Today though, the spirits have come to accept the latest inhabitants of the castle and appear contented to exist alongside Sean and Anne.

They may, occasionally, make nuisances of themselves but, on the whole, they are no longer malevolent.

The sound of traditional music now wafts beneath the rafters as Sean entertains guests and visitors both on tours and at storytelling nights.

And, should a stray sprite or forlorn phantom chose to make an appearance, they are more than welcome to pull up a chair and enjoy the atmosphere of the place that they have helped imbue with the reputation of being Ireland’s most haunted castle.

Glastonbury TorThe Tor has been associated with magic and mystery for thousands of years. It seems likely that early man used the tor for rituals, and maze like path has been identified spiralling around the tor seven times. Professor Philip Rahtz dated the terraces to the Neolithic period, and concluded that they may have been part of a maze.

According to folklore the tor is the home of Gwynn ap Nudd, the king of the underworld and is a gateway into the realm of Annwn.

The tower, which crowns the tor, is all that remains of a church dedicated to St Michael, which fell in an earthquake in 1275. Traditionally the tor was the site of a very early wattle chapel built by Joseph of Arimathea, who is said to have landed at Glastonbury (then surrounded by water) after the crucifixion of Jesus.

The tor has been the scene of some mysterious light phenomena in recent years. In 1981 people climbing the tor saw a strange writhing light, which arced from the tower and earthed itself near to Chalice Well. The earth mysteries researcher Paul Devereux also witnessed strange lights in 1991.

St Michael's Mount is said to be the starting point for the infamous St Michael's ley, a broad line linking the Mount, St Michael's Church Brentor, St Michael's Church Burrowbridge, St Michael's Church Othery, St Michael's Church, Glastonbury Tor and Stoke St Michael. Although too short a space to elaborate on, this can really only be seen as modern folklore.

Edinburgh CastleWith some 900 years of history behind it, it would almost be a surprise if Edinburgh Castle wasn't one of Scotland's most haunted sites. Since its construction as a military fortress in the early 12th century, the castle has witnessed surprise attacks, executions, and even a brief capture by the English. Reincarnated as a tourist attraction, Edinburgh Castle now offers haunted tours of its dungeons, which once hosted the likes of Duke Alexander Stewart of Albany (who escaped, stabbing his guards to death and then burning their bodies), Lady Janet Douglas of Glamis (accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake), and an unnamed piper who once wandered down one of the castle's underground passages and never returned.

In 2001, Edinburgh Castle became the site of the one of the largest paranormal investigations in history. A team of nine researchers and over 200 members of the public explored the castle's forgotten chambers and secret passages for signs of ghostly happenings. The public was not told which areas of the castle were rumored to be haunted and which were not. 51% of participants in haunted areas reported paranormal experiences, while only 35% did so in the non-haunted areas. Shadowy figures, sudden drops in temperature and the feeling of something tugging on your clothes are all everyday experiences in Edinburgh.

If the castle's paranormal activity isn't enough, Edinburgh also boasts the Mary Kings Close, an underground area of the city in which victims of the Black Plague were quarantined and left to die.Source: Time

Edinburgh Castle, Castlehill, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Kinnitty CastleNestling amidst the foothills of the Slieve Bloom Mountains, the gothic revival Kinnitty Castle has had a long and turbulent history.

The first stronghold built on the site, was destroyed in 1209 and rebuilt by the Norman’s in 1213. In time it came into the possession of the powerful O’Carrolls of Ely.

In 1630 one of their line, William O’Carroll, built a new fortress, which was confiscated by the English.

In 1664 the estate was granted to Colonel Thomas Winter, as a reward for his military service and, two hundred years later, his descendents sold it to the Bernard family.

In 1811 Lady Catherine Hutchinson, wife of Thomas Bernard commissioned the present castle which, although burnt by the Republican’s in 1922, was restored and has since been transformed into the magnificent, extremely cosy, hotel whose, dark, atmospheric corridors; elegant rooms; library bar resplendent with rows of antique books upon its shelves; and sweeping stairways, provide visitors with tranquil haven far removed from the stresses and strains of the modern world.

Still in existence in the extensive grounds are the remains an Augustinian Abbey, and an ancient Celtic High Cross, carved with depictions of the presentation in the Temple and the crucifixion, together with Adam and Eve and intertwining birds.

It would also appear that one of the long-dead monks from the old foundation finds the ambience of the castle more than congenial, choosing to wander the darker recesses of the banqueting room where delights in revealing future events, linked with the everyday business of the hotel, to one particular member of staff who often astonishes the owner with the accuracy of the prophecies!

Built between 1798 and 1812 by Charles William Bury (1764-1835), the first Earl of Charleville, and designed by Francis Johnston, Charleville Forest Castle is a proud testimony to Johnston’s vision and the sheer extravagance - unhindered by the constraints of their purse strings - with which successive generations of the Charleville family enthusiastically embraced life.

Every so often, the pressure of living beyond their means would necessitate the temporary closure of the castle, although subsequent re-openings would often be marked by a suitably flamboyant gesture, such as engaging the talents of William Morris, much of whose exquisite dining room ceiling work, amazingly, still survives.

But the family’s inability to curb their excesses sounded the castle’s death knell, and periods of occupancy became more intermittent until, by the early 1960’s, it had been all but abandoned.

It is now owned by Bridget Vance – a charismatic American - who is slowly rousing the castle from its slumber and, with the aid of local craftsmen, restoring its echoing rooms to their past grandeur.

But, as her family go about their task, the spirits of bygone residents have begun to stir, and an abundance of ghosts now wander the what has recently been dubbed "Ireland’s spookiest castle."

The silence of the early hours is sometimes shattered by the playful whoops of children, enjoying a phantom game in what was once the nursery.

It may be these same children who were responsible for once locking Bridget’s daughter, Kate, in a dark cupboard in their playroom.

Older revenants appear to have been to blame for disturbing Richard Hayes who, following a party at the castle, placed his bedroll on the floor and settled down to sleep. Next morning, the children asked Bridget why he had slept with the door open and the lights on? He told her that, just as he was nodding off, two elderly English Men - who, from the style of their speech, were evidently of another era – had struck up an animated conversation, interspersed with the downing of copious amounts of alcohol and, although he could hear them close-by, he could not see them!

I too experienced an unexplainable occurrence when I visited the castle. I was talking with Kate Vance, who asked me if I had ever seen a ghost. Just as I began to answer, the huge chandelier above our heads suddenly switched on and, at the same moment, a radio in the room next door – which was definitely empty at the time – began blaring out classical music.

The wraiths of both Charles William Bury and Francis Johnston have also been seen here.

One morning, at around 3am, Bonnie Vance, awoke to find them leading a ghostly cavalcade across her bedroom in the tower. It consisted of a woman in a black hood, a little girl and a group of around seventeen "monks or druids" who encircled her bed and appeared to bestow a blessing upon her.

But the most poignant of all the spectres that walk this most haunting and atmospheric of castles, is that of the little girl in a blue chiffon dress, whose shimmering shade has been seen many times on the great, winding staircase, the faded walls and creaking boards of which are imbued with a decidedly chilling aura.

Her name in life was Harriet, and one day she was sent upstairs to wash her hands. Having done so, she was playfully sliding down the balustrade when she suddenly lost her balance and plunged to her death on the floor below.

Many people, walking down the staircase where the tragedy occurred, have frequently felt the cold draught of her invisible presence as she brushes past them, whilst others have seen her phantom form, skipping playfully in front of them.

The ghost of a small boy occasionally joins her and once, when he was around three years old, Bridget’s son went missing. Fearful of the steep stairs and precarious drops around the property, the family began an anxious search. They eventually found him at the bottom of the stairwell where he told how "the little boy and girl" had looked after him as he came down the stairs.

Charleville Forest Castle is a special place and, despite the abundance of ghosts that roam its corridors; you leave it with a sense of sheer wonder. It is a welcoming place whose spectral residents are, on the whole, friendly.

But, as you make your way back along the driveway, you come upon an ancient reminder of the castles more sinister past.

Towering over you, its lower branches almost touching the road, is the prodigious "King Oak" the massive girth of which testifies to its venerable age.

Yet its majestic splendour is tinged with a fearsome reputation, for it was always maintained that, whenever one of its branches fell, a member of the Charleville family would die.

In May 1963, a huge bolt of lightning smashed into it and shattered its trunk from top to bottom. Although the oak survived, relief was muted when, two weeks later, Colonel Charles Howard-Bury, the head of the family and the last of the line to own the castle, suddenly dropped dead.

Brown Mountain LightsThe Brown Mountain Lights are a series of ghost lights reported near Brown Mountain in North Carolina. The lights can be seen from the Blue Ridge Parkway overlooks at mile posts 310 (Brown Mountain Light overlook) and 301 (Green Mountain overlook) and from the Brown Mountain Overlook on NC Highway 181 between Morganton, NC and Linville, NC. Additionally, good sightings of the Lights have been reported from the top of Table Rock, outside of Morganton, NC. One of the best vantage points, Wisemans View, is about 4 miles from Linville Falls, NC. There is also a Brown Mountain Overlook on North Carolina Highway 181 that was recently improved with help from the city of Morganton for the purpose of attracting those who visit the area to see the lights. The best time of year to see them is reportedly September through early November.

As the familiar of Lord William de Soulis, a certain Robin Redcap wrought much harm and ruin in the lands of his master's dwelling, Hermitage Castle. Ultimately, he was taken to the Nine Stane Rigg, a circle of stones hard by the castle, wrapped in lead, and boiled to death.

Catacombes de Paris The Catacombs entry is in the western pavilion of Paris's former Barrière d'Enfer city gate. After descending a narrow spiral stone stairwell of 19 meters to the darkness and silence broken only by the gurgling of a hidden aqueduct channeling local springs away from the area, and after passing through a long (about 1.5 km) and twisting hallway of mortared stone, visitors find themselves before a sculpture that existed from a time before this part of the mines became an ossuary, a model of France's Port-Mahon fortress created by a former Quarry Inspector. Soon after, they would find themselves before a stone portal, the ossuary entry, with the inscription Arrête! C'est ici l'empire de la Mort ('Stop! Here lies the Empire of Death").

Source: WikipediaBeyond begin the halls and caverns of walls of carefully arranged bones. Some of the arrangements are almost artistic in nature, such as a heart-shaped outline in one wall formed with skulls embedded in surrounding tibias; another is a round room whose central pillar is also a carefully created 'keg' bone arrangement. Along the way one would find other 'monuments' created in the years before catacomb renovations, such as a source-gathering fountain baptised "La Samaritaine" because of later-added engravings. There are also rusty gates blocking passages leading to other 'unvisitable' parts of the catacombs – many of these are either un-renovated or were too un-navigable for regular tours.

Located at the Rochester Historical Society is the table the Fox Sister used for their seances. Much like when they were girls, the Fox Sisters relied on mysterious "rappings" as proof that spirits were present.

This table was specifically made to produce these rappings. Within the enclosed top of the table, lies a spring connected to a long metal rod. When pushed, the rod hits the inside of the table, creating the rapping sound. The sisters were also known to create unusual sounds by cracking their feet and knuckles, which they used as further evidence that the dead was present. The Fox Sisters' ability to communicate with the dead was hoax.

The Fox Sisters continued to perform seances and other matters of spirit communication until the late 1800s when skeptics and nonbelievers forced them to admit it was all a fraud. Chief among these skeptics was the magician Harry Houdini, who took it personally that these sisters were defrauding vulnerable people.

With their livelihood ruined, the Fox Sisters faded into alcoholism and obscurity. By the turn of the century, all of the sisters had died in poverty and shame..

"Bennington Triangle" is a nickname given by paranormal author Joseph A. Citro to denote an area of southwestern Vermont within which at least five or as many as ten people have disappeared between 1920 and 1950.This "mystery triangle" centered around Glastenbury Mountain and includes some or most of the area of the towns immediately surrounding it, especially Bennington, Woodford, Shaftsbury, and Somerset.

Glastenbury and its neighboring township Somerset were both once moderately thriving logging and industrial towns, but began declining toward the late 19th century and are now essentially ghost towns, unincorporated by an act of the state legislature in 1937. The Bennington Triangle also has been a hotspot for UFO activity, Big Foot sightings, and strange lights and sounds. Other sources do seem to support that such folklore does appear to date back as far as the late 19th century. This includes the local folk belief that Native Americans regarded the Glastenbury area as "cursed" and avoided it, as well as tales of hairy "wild men" and other strange beasts in the woods.

In 1930, a newsman in The Pas, Manitoba, reported on a small Inuit village right off of Lake Angikuni. The village had always welcomed the fur trappers who passed through occasionally. But in 1930 Joe Labelle, a fur trapper well known in the village, found that all the villagers had gone. He found unfinished shirts that still had needles in them and food hanging over fire pits and therefore concluded that the villagers had left suddenly. Even more disturbing, he found seven sled dogs dead from starvation and a grave that had been dug up. Labelle knew that an animal could not have been responsible because the stones circling the grave were undisturbed. He reported this to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who conducted a search for the missing people; no one was ever found.

Such is the story as it appears in Frank Edwards's 1959 book Stranger than Science; other versions appear in Whitley Strieber's science fiction novel Majestic (fiction) and Dean Koontz's horror yarn "Phantoms". The World's Greatest UFO Mysteries (presented as fact) has an even more detailed version, as do other websites and books, adding other standard details such as mysterious lights in the sky, empty graveyards, and over a thousand people missing. The earliest version of the story is found in the November 27, 1930, Danville Bee,[2] written by journalist Emmett E Kelleher. That article contained a "photo" that was later found to be from 1909 and had nothing at all to do with the story. The incident appears to have been forgotten until referenced by Edwards's 1966 book.

The RCMP has since dismissed the case as an urban legend, claiming that the story originated in Frank Edwards' book. The RCMP also states, "It is also believed that such a large village would never have been possible in such a remote area" (despite the fact that the aforementioned book the RCMP references mentions just 30 people and one grave).[3] The RCMP states that it has no record of any unusual activity in the area.[4]

Despite the modern RCMP explanation, an older one can be found from 1931, issued by the RCMP itself after an investigation that the modern RCMP does not acknowledge.[5][6] The 1931 RCMP considered the whole story untrue, although later investigations indicate there may have been some permanent or seasonal abandonment of structures by their occupants, a normal event that could be confusing to anyone not familiar with the area and conditions - it was not sudden, and nothing of any real value was left behind. The November 1976 issue of Fate Magazine also studied the story, arriving at similar conclusions.[7

The legend of the Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine centers around the Superstition Mountains. According to the legend, a German immigrant named Jacob Waitz discovered a mother lode in the Superstition Wilderness and revealed its location on his deathbed in Phoenix in 1891 to Julia Thomas, a boarding-house owner who had taken care of him for many years. Several mines have been claimed to be the actual mine that Waitz discovered, but none of those claims have been verified.[1]

Some Apaches believe that the hole leading down into the lower world is located in the Superstition Mountains. Winds blowing from the hole are supposed to be the cause of severe dust storms.[3]

The Morbid Anatomy Library and Cabinet, a research library and private collection available to the interested public. The library/cabinet makes available a collection of books and catalogs, photographs, fine art, taxidermy, ephemera, and artifacts relating to medical museums, anatomical art, collectors and collecting, cabinets of curiosity, the history of medicine, death and society, natural history, arcane media, and curiosity and curiosities broadly considered.

In the heart of Togo's capital, Lome, is a market dedicated to the sale of ingredients which traditional healers say can make magic charms. People who practise the voodoo tradition believe that life derives from the natural forces of earth, water, fire and air. Joseph, a healer from neighbouring Benin, says: "This place is like a pharmacy for everybody in the world. When someone has a serious sickness and the hospital cannot help, they come here to the fetish market."

There are a thousand ghost towns spread across the western United States -- a whole constellation of loss and ruin -- but most are little more than foundations, or at best a few tumbledown shacks, or if the people who lived and died there did anything of note, and if they're lucky, a sun-faded commemorative plaque mounted on a squat stone pillar. The ghost town of Bodie, however, is another story altogether. A mining boomtown, it was the third most populous city in the state of California in 1880. By the 1940s sickness, wars, bad weather and exhausted mines had led to the town's desertion, and its isolated, inhospitable location made certain that it stayed that way.

HAARP The High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) is an ionospheric research program jointly funded by the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, the University of Alaska, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).[1]Designed and built by BAE Advanced Technologies (BAEAT), its purpose is to analyze the ionosphere and investigate the potential for developing ionospheric enhancement technology for radio communications and surveillance.[2] The HAARP program operates a major sub-arctic facility, named the HAARP Research Station, on an Air Force–owned site near Gakona, Alaska.The most prominent instrument at the HAARP Station is the Ionospheric Research Instrument (IRI), a high-power radio frequency transmitter facility operating in the high frequency (HF) band. The IRI is used to temporarily excite a limited area of the Ionosphere. Other instruments, such as a VHF and a UHF radar, a fluxgate magnetometer, a digisonde (an ionospheric sounding device), and an induction magnetometer, are used to study the physical processes that occur in the excited region.

Nick Begich Jr., the son of former U.S. RepresentativeNick Begich and author of Angels Don't Play This HAARP, has claimed that HAARP could trigger earthquakes and turn the upper atmosphere into a giant lens so that "the sky would literally appear to burn", and maintains a website that claims HAARP is a mind control device.[20][22]

Former Governor of Minnesota and noted conspiracy theorist Jesse Ventura questioned whether the government is using the site to manipulate the weather or to bombard people with mind-controlling radio waves. An Air Force spokeswoman said Ventura made an official request to visit the research station but was rejected-"he and his crew showed up at HAARP anyway and were denied access".[23]

Physicist Bernard Eastlund claimed that HAARP includes technology based on his own patents that has the capability to modify weather and neutralize satellites.

According to local legend, the founders of Dudleytown were descended from Edmund Dudley, an English nobleman who was beheaded for treason during the reign of Henry VII. From that moment on, the Dudley family was placed under a curse, which followed them across the Atlantic to America. Several residents of Dudleytown are said to have gone insane, and two local women, Mary Cheney and Harriet Clarke, are said to have committed suicide,[6] the latter having reported visions of demons prior to her death.[2]However, this version of events is much disputed, and a number of factual inaccuracies have been highlighted by local authors and historians. For instance, there is no evidence of a genealogical link between the founders of Dudleytown and the nobleman Edmund Dudley; Mary Cheney, who had in fact never set foot in Dudleytown, did not kill herself but died of lung disease; Harriet Clarke did commit suicide, but in New York, not Dudleytown; and most of the cases of "insanity" were more likely senility brought on by old age.[6][7] The real reason for the town's desertion may be that it was built too far from a source of clean water, and on land that was not suited to cultivation. It has also been speculated that the groundwater in the area was contamined with lead.[1]SIDE NOTE: Also known as 'Dark Entry Forest'

The Hoia-Baciu Forest is located near Cluj-Napoca, Romania and is locally referred to as the Bermuda Triangle of Romania. Hoia Baciu Forest, has a reputation for paranormal activity. Reports have included, among others, folk ghost stories, apparitions, faces identified in photographs that were not visible with the naked eye, and, in the 1970s, UFO sightings. Visitors to the forest report anxiety and the feeling of being watched, and the local vegetation is oftentimes bizarre (strangely shaped trees, charring on tree stumps and branches).

The forest was named after a shepherd that disappeared in the area with two hundred sheep. Most people who live near the forest are afraid to enter. They believe that those who visit the site will never return. Many of the locals who have gone into the forest complain of physical harm, including rashes, nausea, vomiting, migraines, burns, scratches, anxiety, and other unusual bodily sensations.

This dense forest first gained notoriety in the late 1960s when biologist Alexandru Sift snapped several amazing photos of flying disc-shaped objects in the skies above the forest canopy. People who enter the forest inexplicably get rashes or begin to feel very light-headed and become ill. Also electronic devices are known to inexplicably malfunction in the area. Some paranormal investigators associate these unknown malfunctioning with supernatural activity.

The Hoia-Baciu Forest has a reputation for paranormal activity. People have witnessed several strange events on the land. The most common phenomenon includes seeing mysterious orb-like lights, female voices, giggling, apparitions, and cases of people being scratched. In the 1970s, the area was a hotbed for UFO sighting and unexplained lights. Visitors to the forest have reported a strong sense of anxiety and the feeling of being watched. The local vegetation in the forest is bizarre and some trees hold an unexplained charring. On August 18, 1968, a military technician named Emil Barnea captured a famous photograph of a saucer-like object over the Hoia-Baciu Forest.

Some believe that the forest is the gateway to another dimension. Several stories are often told that exhibit people entering the forest and experiencing missing time with no recollection of how they spent that time. One such story focuses on a 5-year-old girl who wonders into the forest and gets lost. She reemerges from the forest 5 years older still wearing the untarnished clothes that she wore on the day she disappeared with no memory of where she had been.

Another story of the The Hoia-Baciu Forest is the site of strange paranormal phenomena which have been recorded and researched for nearly 50 years. The woods are thought to be notoriously haunted by the Romanian peasants who were murdered here. It is believed that the souls of these ghosts are trapped within the wooded confines of Hoia-Baciu and that the ghosts are enraged by their predicament. Within the dark interior, people have been known to disappear, strange lights have been seen, the wind seems to speak, and visions of these tormented spirits are observed by terrified travelers. Pairs of green eyes and a black fog have been observed here and many people report a feeling of being watched as they travel near the forest’s edge. Locals also believe that there is a hub for this paranormal activity— a circular plateau deep in the forest which is devoid of trees and which is thought to be the “home” of these ghosts. Photos taken here have been developed to reveal hovering shapes and outlines of human forms.

More recently the paranormal energy of the forest has taking on the form of poltergeist and ghost activity. In one paranormal television series an investigator in the forest is scratched and thrown on the ground. People also claim to see bright lights within the woods. This paranormal activity seems to be focused in an inexplicable clearing in the forest that is a vegetation dead zone. It is nearly a perfect circle in the woods where nothing will grow. Soil samples have been taken from the site and analyzed but results show that there is nothing in the soil that should prevent the growth of plant life.

UFOS, a dead vegetation zone, lights with no logical source, poltergeist activity, EVP activity, and malfunctioning electronics are the documented paranormal happenings of this creepy forest. While most of the stories about this legendary location may be over exaggerated, it is hard to ignore the fact that something is going on in this forest that we may not understand given the recent well-documented occurrences of poltergeist activity.

Many people who live near the Hoia-Baciu Forest have reported a large collection of orb-like lights inside the tree line. When using a thermal, these lights don’t seem to be producing any heat signatures. Some people who enter the forest suddenly remember all of their past experiences in the trees, but then forget the memories after leaving the land. Specialists from around the world are fascinated by the forest. Scientists from Germany, France, the United States, and Hungary have managed to capture bizarre material structures on film, including faces and apparitions. Some of the structures are seen with the naked eye and others only in photos or videos.

There are many people who say that in this place there are paranormal phenomena or appearances of UFOs, one mysterious place near Cluj Napoca, Baciu Forest begins to compete more and more with the Dracula legend in Transylvania… This is a forest just a few miles from Cluj, who became famous because of unexplained phenomena, which are considered by some as manifestations of the paranormal. This forest’s fame spread worldwide.

Prestigious publications such as Travel & Leisure magazine or BBC have included this among the most interesting forest haunted areas on the planet. And his fame continues to attract tourists. Two years ago, the famous actor Nicolas Cage, who was shooting a film in Sibiu, came to Cluj specifically to see this mysterious forest.

What is actually Baciului Forest?

Forest, which covers an area of ​​over 250 hectares, it attracts many amateurs of Yoga, Wicca and the paranormal. There are numerous legends in connection with this forest. Some trees grew crooked and that is why there is speculation that their shape was influenced by mysterious energies.There are people who believe that in this forest there is portal that provides access to other universes. There are also legends that entities outside world would occur here every year.

At Edgefield, during its seven-decade run as a poor farm, a remarkable array of personalities congregated under its roof: sea captains, captains of industry, school teachers, ministers, musicians, loggers, nurses, home builders, homemakers, former slaves and slave owners. There were Germans, Italians, Japanese, Chinese, Native Americans, African Americans; Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, and Buddhist. Frankie of "Frankie and Johnny" notoriety was there. The nephew of celebrated Confederate General Stonewall Jackson surpassed age 100 while at Edgefield. The one common thread among them was, at one time (and perhaps others) in their lives, each needed a "leg up."

"The grand buildings and elegant gardens of McMenamins Edgefield don’t leave one with the impression of anything less than opulence, but look a little deeper into the property’s past and you might find something that gives you the chills."

The hotel and grounds are absolutely gorgeous and makes for wandering around that much more fun. The log of supernatural experiences is a most read as a good reference for hotspots around the property.

Villisca Ax Murder HouseOver 97 years ago, long before serial killers and mass murders had become a way of life, two adults and 6 children were found brutally murdered in their beds in the small mid-western town of Villisca, Iowa. During the weeks that followed, life in this small town changed drastically.

As residents of this small town reinforced locks, openly carried weapons and huddled together while sleeping, newspaper reporters and private detectives flooded the streets. Accusations, rumors and suspicion ran rampant among friends and families. Bloodhounds were brought in. Law enforcement agencies from neighboring counties and states joined forces. Hundreds of interviews filled thousands of pages.

Aokigahara the Sea of TreesCalled "the perfect place to die," the Aokigahara forest has the unfortunate distinction as the world's second most popular place to take one's life. (The first is the Golden Gate Bridge.) Since the 1950s, Japanese businessmen have wandered in, and at least 500 of them haven't wandered out, at an increasing rate of between 10 and 30 per year. Recently these numbers have increased even more, with a record 78 suicides in 2002.

Japanese spiritualists believe that the suicides committed in the forest have permeated Aokigahara's trees, generating paranormal activity and preventing many who enter from escaping the forest's depths. Complicating matters further is the common experience of compasses being rendered useless by the rich deposits of magnetic iron in the area's volcanic soil.

Due to the vastness of the forest, desperate visitors are unlikely to encounter anyone once inside the so-called "Sea of Trees," so the police have mounted signs reading "Your life is a precious gift from your parents," and "Please consult the police before you decide to die!" on trees throughout.

Contemporary news outlets noted the recent spike in suicides in the forest, blamed more on Japan’s economic downturn than on the romantic ending of Seicho Matsumoto’s novel Kuroi Jukai, which revitalized the so-called Suicide Forest’s popularity among those determined to take their final walk. (The novel culminates in Aokigahara as the characters are driven to joint-suicide.)

Locals say they can easily spot the three types of visitors to the forest: trekkers interested in scenic vistas of Mount Fuji, the curious hoping for a glimpse of the macabre, and those souls who don’t plan on returning.

What those hoping to take their lives may not consider is the impact the suicides have on the locals and forest workers. In the words of one local man, "It bugs the hell out of me that the area's famous for being a suicide spot." And a local police officer said, "I've seen plenty of bodies that have been really badly decomposed, or been picked at by wild animals... There's nothing beautiful about dying in there."

The forest workers have it even worse than the police. The workers must carry the bodies down from the forest to the local station, where the bodies are put in a special room used specifically to house suicide corpses. The forest workers then play jan-ken-pon—which English-speakers call rock, paper, scissors—to see who has to sleep in the room with the corpse.

It is believed that if the corpse is left alone, it is very bad luck for the yurei (ghost) of the suicide victims. Their spirits are said to scream through the night, and their bodies will move on their own.

The Oregon VortexIn the early 20th century, a small office built for a local mining company began sliding down a hill, eventually resting at an odd angle to its foundation. From this simple accident a tourist attraction was born.

The owners, the Cooper family, say the building slid down the hill because of a magnetic force, that forms what the Coopers call a "vortex." This force, they claim, also causes all sorts of other "paranormal activity" around the hill, where balls appear to roll uphill and broomsticks seem to stand on end. The Cooper family also claims that the Native Americans thought this space was forbidden ground, and their horses would not enter it, though local Native Americans may say otherwise.

Skeptics, and those with a good pair of eyes or sense of orientation, will point out that it is the distorted building that makes the objects and people around it appear at different heights. The perceived distortions are due to a forced perspective which makes shapes appear larger or smaller due to a distorted background. A classic example of this is an Ames room in which people appear to grow in size as they walk across it. Magnetic vortex: probably not. Delightful trick of perception: unquestionably.

The quietest place on Earth is a room in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the longest anyone has stayed in the dark there is 45 minutes. The 'anechoic chamber' at Orfield Laboratories absorbs over 99 percent of sound with 3-foot-thick fiberglass wedges and insulated walls, removing virtually every sound except that of people and objects brought into the chamber. In some cases, that's used for simple industrial purposes: it's a way to hear the sounds of switches, motors, or washing machines without outside interference.

Put a human being in there, however, and they become disoriented or even experience hallucinations. After a few minutes, founder Steven Orfield told the Daily Mail, your body begins to adapt to the soundlessness, picking up smaller and smaller sounds. "You'll hear your heart beating, sometimes you can hear your lungs, hear your stomach gurgling loudly. In the anechoic chamber, you become the sound." Because there are no external sounds, it's difficult to move around: "If you're in there for half an hour, you have to be in a chair."

In extreme cases, the sensory deprivation is debilitating. NASA astronauts train by being placed in a water tank in the room, an experience that apparently causes hallucinations as the body tries to create sensations out of thin air. When the lights are turned out, the Mail says that the longest time anyone has been able to stay inside is 45 minutes. At Orfield, it seems, the greatest distraction of all is not noise but silence.

Momo (Missouri Monster)Momo is the name of a local legend, similar to the Bigfoot, which is reported to live in Missouri. The name Momo is short for 'Missouri Monster' and it is reported to have a large, pumpkin-shaped head, with a furry body, and hair covering the eyes. First reported in July 1971, near Louisiana, Missouriby Joan Mills and Mary Ryan, Momo has been spotted up and down the Mississippi River. It is supposedly a large, 7 ft (2.1 m) tall, hairy, black, manlike creature that eats dogs and emits a terrible odor. Some suggest it was a rogue black bear. Following sightings in 1972 beginning at 3:30 p.m. July 11, first reported by Terry, Wally, and Doris Harrison, and lasting for about 2 weeks, tracks were found and submitted to Lawrence Curtis, director of the Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden.

MuldjewangkThe Muldjewangk is a water-creature in AustralianAboriginal mythology that inhabited the Murray River, particularly Lake Alexandrina. It was used as a deterrent for Aboriginal children who wished to play near the riverside after dark. Sometimes they are portrayed as evil merfolk (half man half fish), or times as a gargantuan monster. It is also inconsistent whether there are many of the creatures, or a single "The Muldjewangk".

A legend tells of a monstrous Muldjewangk who once attacked a steamboat owned by European settlers. The captain saw two great hands grasping the hull of the boat so he grabbed his gun. Aboriginal elders on board warned the captain not to shoot, but their pleas fell on deaf ears. "You're going to suffer now" they warned. Soon later, the captain suffered from weeping red blisters all over his body, and took six months to die.

The Muldjewangk pesters Ngurunderi (see Murray River) and his wives when they settle on the banks of Lake Alexandrina by wrecking their fishing nets.

Large clumps of floating seaweed are said to hide Muldjewangks and are to be avoided. Large footprints have also been seen. Some elders now say the Muldjewangks no longer inhabit the river system.

Somewhere in the depths of the Hawkesbury River in New South Wales lurks the long lost cousin of Nessie the Loch Ness Monster, according to Australian naturalist Rex Gilroy. Rex, a Katoomba-based author and head of the Australian Unknown Animals Investigation Centre, claims the beast is alive and well and using the central coast as a breeding ground.

And he says he has hundreds of reports to prove it - detailed sightings of the creature collected by himself and his wife Heather over the last 30 years, the most recent in November 2000.

"In recent years there have been sightings of creatures surfacing as far up as Windsor," Rex said. "The latest was in the St Albans where there was a report of a 25-30 foot creature spotted swimming in the river. Some people who had been out fishing saw it swimming past the jetty where they were standing, with a snake-like head about a metre or so above water."

Descriptions of the Hawkesbury Monster liken it to the prehistoric plesiosaur, an aquatic dinosaur 70 million years extinct. According to the 57-year-old naturalist, stories about the creatures in Australia date back to before the first white settlers and are a part of Aboriginal folklore. Early settlers to the area during the 1800s were told stories by Aboriginals of women and children being attacked by the moolyewonk or mirreeular, the Aboriginal names for the monster, Rex said.

"Information collected so far suggests to me that the creatures are breeding somewhere offshore and laying their eggs inland. This would not be out of character, as there were both freshwater and saltwater breeds during the Cretaceous period," he said.

"They are still being seen in the Hawkesbury River of course, which is not surprising because it is such a deep river. Actually it's a sunken valley."

Sightings put the greyish black creature between 7 and 24 metres in length. At the top end of the scale that's about five times bigger than a great white shark or the equivalent length of five commodores parked bumper to bumper. Like Nessie, which cryptozoologists also believe to be a plesiosaur, the Hawkesbury River monster has a large body, two sets of flippers and a long snakelike neck and head.

"Aboriginal rock art in the area 3-4000 years old describes the creature as about 20 foot long. The Aborigines were pretty observant and this carving means those creatures were seen around the Hawkesbury River," Rex said.

Reports of sea monsters can be found across the Pacific and around the globe, the most famous and enduring of which is Scotland's Loch Ness Monster.

Rex said new species, as well as those previously thought to be extinct, were being constantly discovered and scientists should be more broadminded in their research.

"It seems to me that we do have a race of creatures that are officially extinct, yet they are still with us," Rex said. "As to what it is? I believe it's a marine reptile of some sort that scientists should really start taking an interest in. We've got a lot going on in our own backyard and Australians should be investigating."

Fouke MonsterThe Fouke Monster, also known as the Southern Sasquatch, is a legendary cryptid reported near the town of Fouke in Miller County, Arkansas, during the early 1970s. The creature was accused of attacking a local family. Initial sightings of the creature were concentrated in the Jonesville/Boggy Creek area, where it was blamed for the destruction of local livestock. Later, sightings were made several hundred miles to the north and the east of Fouke.

Brocken SpectreA Brocken spectre (GermanBrockengespenst), also called Brocken bow, mountain spectre or glockenspectre is the apparently enormous and magnified shadow of an observer, cast upon the upper surfaces of clouds opposite the sun. The phenomenon can appear on any misty mountainside or cloud bank, or even from an aeroplane, but the frequent fogs and low-altitude accessibility of the Brocken, a peak in the Harz Mountains in Germany, have created a local legend from which the phenomenon draws its name. The Brocken spectre was observed and described by Johann Silberschlag in 1780, and has since been recorded often in literature about the region.

ChessieChessi is a legendary sea monster said to live in the midst of the Chesapeake Bay. Over the years there have been many alleged sightings of a serpent-like creature with flippers as part of its body. Most sighting reports describe it as a long, snake-like creature, from 25 feet (7.6 m) to 40 feet (12 m) long. It is said to swim using its body as a sine curve moving through the water. There were a rash of sightings in 1977 and more in the mid-1980s.

Although there are alleged photographs of Chessie, there is no genuine evidence of its existence. Speculation to explain sightings has included a "mutant eel" theory, large river otters, prehistoric zeuglodons, and South American anacondas escaping from 18th and 19th century sailing ships.

MussieMussie is an alleged sea monster reported to be living in Muskrat Lake, 75 miles (121 km) northwest of Ottawa, Ontario, the capital of Canada. The legend has gone a through a gradual image change over the years.

In the past the creature was classified as a "hepaxalor" and described as a great serpent with three eyes and sharp teeth that towered over its potential prey. However, the interest of several "Mussie enthusiasts" of various professional grades has helped to organize witness accounts and streamline the modern perception of Mussie that appears less exaggerated. It is now most popularly imagined as an unknown type of marine mammal, sharing traits with a seal or walrus.

The legend

Local folkloresays that while exploring the region over 300 years ago, Samuel de Champlain learned from the natives of the area of a legendary creature that lived in the lake. Though the legend may certainly descend from native lore, no mention is given of it in Champlain's memoirs. Nevertheless, the myth survived with help from a sign which once welcomed visitors to Cobden.

The sign featured Champlain holding his famous lost astrolabe while looking out over Muskrat Lake. In the lake, prominently displayed, is Mussie, depicted as having three eyes and a long tongue. The sign is inaccurate in many ways, least of all in giving the impression that Champlain had actually encountered the creature. Though the sign has been replaced, its impact is still felt. Champlain is still the traditional starting point for any Mussie tale.

Tahoe TessieTahoe Tessie is a cryptozoological creature which supposedly resides in North America's largest alpine lake, Lake Tahoe, located in Nevada andCalifornia. Tales of the lake-dwelling creature can be traced to stories told by members of the Washoe and Paiute tribes in the mid-19th century, stating that the creature resides in an underwater tunnel beneath Cave Rock, and sightings have continued into modern day.

Beast of BladenboroThe Beast of Bladenboro is a huge catlike monster. Beginning in late 1953, Bladenboro, North Carolina was the scene of unexplained attacks. A farmer saw a beast resembling a cat carry his dog off. Several dog carcasses were later found drained of blood. Hunters came from all over the country to hunt the “vampire beast” until the small town got sick of the hoopla. A bobcat was then shot and displayed, and the world was assured that the beast had been found. Although some reports have surfaced that the beast remains active, it hasn’t stopped Bladenboro from hosting an annual festival centered around the legend -- which is this weekend.

Loveland Frog/Loveland LizardThe Loveland Frog (otherwise known as the Loveland Lizard) is said to be a humanoid creature with the face of a frog and is described as standing roughly 4 feet (1.2 m) tall with green leathery skin. It walks upright and has webbed hands and feet, and was allegedly first spotted inLoveland, Ohio.

The Dover Demon is an alleged cryptozoological creature sighted on three separate occasions during a 25-hour period in the town of Dover,Massachusetts on April 21 and April 22, 1977. It has remained a subject of interest for cryptozoologists ever since then. CryptozoologistLoren Coleman was the initial investigator and the individual who named the creature the Dover Demon; it was disseminated by the press, and the name stuck. Coleman quickly assembled and brought into the inquiry three other investigators: Joseph Nyman, Ed Fogg, and Walter Webb. All were well-known ufological researchers in eastern Massachusetts, with Webb being the assistant director of the Hayden Planetarium at Boston's Science Museum. Coleman did not feel he was necessarily dealing with a ufological phenomenon, but he wanted to have seasoned investigators with good interviewing skills to do a comprehensive examination of the eyewitnesses and their families, as well as law enforcement, educational, and community

Highgate CemeteryBesides having such famous people buried there as Karl Marx, Douglas Adams, and the parents of Charles Dickens, Highgate Cemetery has long been known for its ghosts, sinister activities, and other strangeness, including:

The most famous spook in this cemetery is The Highgate Vampire, who is not really a vampire in the classic sense, but a phantom that is described as a 7-foot-tall, dark male figure with piercing, hypnotic eyes and wearing a long black coat and high top hat; he seems to vanish into thin air. There have been several dozen sightings and encounters since the late 1960s.

A man whose car broke down near the cemetery came face to face with a ghoul with glowimg red eyes that peered at him through the graveyard's iron gates.

The ghost of an insane old woman has been seen racing among the gravestones, her gray hair flowing behind her as she searches for her children, whom she allegedly murdered.

A dark shrouded figure has been see standing stock still and staring into space. When it is approached, it vanishes then reappears a short distance away, still staring into the void.

A businessman was terrified by a phantom that jumped over the fence and landed right in front of him. He described it as having pointed ears, glowing eyes, and large nose. This might have been the infamous Spring-Heeled Jack.

Sallie HouseEditor's Note: It is unclear if this is a private home or if they allow visitors.

The Sallie House in Atchison, Kansas quickly earned a national reputation as one of the most haunted places in the U.S. -- almost certainly the most haunted in the state of Kansas. The rather simple-looking painted brick house at 508 N. Second Street, built between 1867 and 1871, gives no indication from the street of its spooky reputation, but the many experiences of those who lived there are have subsequently investigated the place testify as to its ghostly vibes -- mostly of the negative kind.

The house was brought to national attention when Debra and Tony Pickman lived there from 1992 to 1994 and had many distrubing encounters, including physical attacks on Tony, which were documented by the Sightings television show. It's called the Sallie house because the daughter of some previous tenents had an imaginary friend named Sallie, and she is beleived to be one of the spirits haunting the house. When Tony Pickman drew a picture of the ghost Sallie he had seen, the daughter identified it as her friend, Sallie. (Coincidentally -- or not -- people who owned the house in the 1940s had a daughter named Sallie, although she did not die in the house or at a young age.)

While napping, Tony heard of woman's voice say, "Here's your remote," as the TV remote control was placed on his chest by unseen hands

During the first Sightings taping, Tony received three bloody scratches on his arm

One night Tony dreamed that he was being pulled out of bed by his wrist by a little girl. Upon waking he found burn marks on his wrist that were much like the fingerprints of a small child.

The Kansas Parnaormal Group has extensively researched and investigated the Sallie House over the years and may be primarily responsible for labeling the haunting as "probably demonic" because of the many violent incidents.

The house continues to be a focal point for investigations by ghost hunting groups from all over the country, who report strange activity, EVP, and other phenomena. On Friday the 13th, 2012, a72-hour investigation was broadcast live on the internet, the replay of which you can find here.

Hollywood Roosevelt HotelBrief history: Located on Hollywood Boulevard and opened for business in 1927, the Roosevelt Hotel is one of the most famous hotels in Los Angeles and one of the most haunted places in the world. It has long been a hangout for Hollywood's biggest stars, and the popularity of its trendy Teddy's nightclub still attracts the glitterati.

Marilyn Monroe's ghost has been seen reflected in a mirror in room 229 and dancing in the hotel's ballroom.

Montgomery Clift's ghost is thought to haunt room 928, where he stayed whilte filming From Here to Eternity, and can still be heard playing his trumpet. His spirit has also been spotted on the eighth floor.

One guest who stayed in room 928 felt patting on her shoulder by an unseen hand as she lay in bed reading.

There is an eerie cold spot in the Blossom Ballroom that is about 10 degrees colder than the rest of the room.

The ghost of a man dressed in white has been seen standing near a piano in the Blossom Ballroom. When guests approached the man, after hearing piano music, he vanished before their eyes.

The ghost of glamorous movie star Carole Lombard, wife of Clark Gable, has been spotted on the 12th floor, where she and Gable often stayed.

Former Saturday Night Live cast member Ana Gasteyer, while staying one of the hotels's suites, encountered a piano that played by itself and the full-body apparition of a maid in a hall closet.

Security guards have seen a ghost at the hotel's pool. It could be seen on security cameras, but when a guard went to check it, he could see no one -- although it still appeared on the security monitor.

The ghost of a pony-tailed little girl named Caroline has been seen skipping and singing around the fountain in the lobby.

Guests returned to their rooms only to find them locked from the inside.

Moss Beach DistilleryBrief history: During Prohibition in the 1920s, the Moss Beach Distillery in Moss Beach, California became one of the most popular speakeasies on the West Coast when it was known as "Frank's Place," frequented by silent film stars drinking its illegal booze. After Prohibition, the place continued as a successful restaurant, which it remains today.

Ghosts: The Blue Lady is the Distillery's most famous ghost and has been investigated by such prominent ghost hunters as Loyd Auerbach as well as the Unsolved Mysteries TV show. According to legend, in the 1930s a beautiful young woman, possibly named Cayte, fell for a piano player of questionable character and they began an affair, even though she was already married. She was killed by an unknown assailant on the nearby beach, and it is thought that her spirit -- dressed in blue -- still searches for her lover.

Ghostly activity reported by guests and restaurant staff includes:

Sightings of the Blue Lady herself

A levitating checkbook

Doors that impossibly lock from the inside

Mysterious phone calls

Disappearing earrings that later show up in one place

Glassware moving

During his 1999 investigation, Loyd Auerbach reports that he experienced the ghost "walking through" him several times

The Whaley HouseLocated in San Diego, California, the Whaley House has earned the title of "the most haunted house in the U.S." Built in 1857 by Thomas Whaley on land that was partially once a cemetery, the house has since been the locus of dozens of ghost sightings.

Author deTraci Regula relates her experiences with the house: "Over the years, while dining across the street at the Old Town Mexican Cafe, I became accustomed to noticing that the shutters of the second-story windows [of the Whaley House] would sometimes open while we ate dinner, long after the house was closed for the day. On a recent visit, I could feel the energy in several spots in the house, particularly in the courtroom, where I also smelled the faint scent of a cigar, supposedly Whaley's calling-card. In the hallway, I smelled perfume, initially attributing that to the young woman acting as docent, but some later surreptitious sniffing in her direction as I talked to her about the house revealed her to be scent-free."

Some of the other ghostly encounters include:

The spirit of a young girl who was accidentally hanged on the property.

The ghost of Yankee Jim Robinson, a thief who was clubbed to death and who can be heard on the house's stairway where he died, and has sometimes been seen during tours of the old house.

The red-haired daughter of the Whaley's sometimes appears in such a realistic form; she is sometimes mistaken for a live child.

Famed psychic Sybil Leek claimed to have sensed several spirits there, and renowned ghost hunter Hanz Holzer considered the Whaley to be one of the most reliably haunted structures in the United States.

The Myrtles PlantationBuilt in 1796 by General David Bradford, this stately old home on Myrtles Plantation is said to be haunted be several restless ghosts. Some researchers say as many as ten murders have been committed there, but others, such as Troy Taylor and David Wisehart, have only been able to confirm one murder at Myrtles. (Those two authors provide a very good history of the house in their article, The Legends, Lore & Lies of The Myrtles Plantation).

Even they agree, however, that the place is seriously haunted and easily qualifies as one of the "most haunted." These are some of the ghosts that allegedly haunt the house:

Chloe – a former slave who was allegedly hung on the premises for killing two little girls. (Those murders and even the existence of Chloe are in question.)

The ghosts of the two murdered children have been seen playing on the veranda.

William Drew Winter – an attorney who lived at Myrtles from 1860 to 1871. He was shot on the side porch of the house by a stranger. With his life's blood pouring from his body, Winter staggered into the house and began to climb the stairs to the second floor... but didn't make it. He collapsed and died on the 17th step. It is his last dying footsteps that can still be heard on the staircase to this day. (Winter's murder is the only one that has been verified.)

The ghosts of other slaves allegedly occasionally show up to ask if they can do any chores.

The grand piano has often been heard to play by itself, repeating one haunting chord.

Now a bed and breakfast, The Myrtles Plantation has opened its doors to guests who often report disturbances in the night.

Lily Dale is a hamlet located in the Town of Pomfret on the east side of Cassadaga Lake, next to the Village of Cassadaga. Located in southwestern New York State,[3] it is one hour south of Buffalo, halfway to the Pennsylvania border. Lily Dale's year-round population is estimated to be 275. Each year approximately 22,000 registered visitors come for classes, workshops, public church services and mediumship demonstrations, lectures, and private appointments with mediums.

Rolling Hills AsylumLocated between Buffalo and Rochester, Rolling Hills Asylum's enormous 53,000+ sq. ft. brick building sits on a knoll in the hamlet of E. Bethany, N.Y. and has been a popular destination for ghost hunters for many years. Opened on January 1, 1827 and originally named The Genesee County Poor Farm, it was created by Genesee County to house those eligible for assistance including paupers, habitual drunkards, lunatics, the blind, lame or otherwise handicapped, orphans, widows, vagrants, and even a murderer or two. In the 1950s it became the Old County Home & Infirmary, and then in the 1990s was transformed into a set of shops and later an antiques mall. When the property owners, vendors and shoppers began to notice strange occurrences, a paranormal group was called into investigate and Rolling Hills' spooky reputation was born. Reports include disembodied voices, doors mysteriously held shut, screams in the night, shadow people and more.

Rolling Hills Case Manager, Suzie Yencer relates one chilling experience: "It was September 2007. While working a public hunt, we had a gentleman with us that was filming a documentary about the building. He wanted to try an experiment in one of the rooms. The room he chose was in the basement, popularly known as The Christmas Room. The experiment he wanted to try was to sit in the room with no lights or equipment on. The only light we would use was a pink glow stick in the middle of a circle of people. We also placed a small ball and a toddler size rocking horse in the circle. The gentleman conducting the experiment requested that only I talk and try to make contact with the spirits. The more I talked, the more strange occurrences began to happen. The glow stick started to move back and forth, and the rocking horse began to slowly rock. A few of the guests in the room including myself saw a hand and arm come out of nowhere and reach for the ball in the circle and then just vanish...."

The White HouseThat's right, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. is not only home to the current President of the United States, it also is home of several former presidents who occasionally decide to make their presences known there, despite the fact that they are dead.

President Harrison is said to be heard rummaging around in the attic of the White House, looking for who knows what. President Andrew Jackson is thought to haunt his White House bedroom. And the ghost of First Lady Abigail Adams was seen floating through one of the White House hallways, as if carrying something.

The most frequently sighted presidential ghost has been that of Abraham Lincoln. Eleanor Roosevelt once stated she believed she felt the presence of Lincoln watching her as she worked in the Lincoln bedroom. Also during the Roosevelt administration, a young clerk claimed to have actually seen the ghost of Lincoln sitting on a bed pulling off his boots. On another occasion, while spending a night at the White House during the Roosevelt presidency, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands was awakened by a knock on the bedroom door. Answering it, she was confronted with the ghost of Abe Lincoln staring at her from the hallway. Calvin Coolidge's wife reported seeing on several occasions the ghost of Lincoln standing with his hands clasped behind his back, at a window in the Oval Office, staring out in deep contemplation toward the bloody battlefields across the Potomac.

Raynham HallRaynham Hall in Norfolk, England, is most famous for the ghost of "the Brown Lady," which was captured on film in 1936 in what is considered one of the most authentic ghost pictures ever taken.

The Unexplained Site describes one of the first encounters with the spirit: "The first known sighting happened during the 1835 Christmas season. Colonel Loftus, who happened to be visiting for the holidays, was walking to his room late one night when he saw a strange figure ahead of him. As he tried to gain a better look, the figure promptly disappeared. The next week, the Colonel was again came upon the woman. He described her as a noble woman who wore a brown satin dress. Her face seemed to glow, which highlighted her empty eye sockets."

Waverly Hills SanitoriumThe original Waverly Hills Sanatorium, a two-story wooden structure, was opened in 1910, but the larger brick and concrete structure as it stand today was completed in 1926. The hospital was always dedicated to the treatment of tuberculosis patients, a disease that was fairly common in the early 20th Century.

It is estimated that as many as 63,000 people died as the sanatorium. Those deaths coupled with the reports of severe mistreatment of patients and highly questionable experiments and procedures are ingredients for a haunted location.

Ghost investigators who have ventured into Waverly have reported a host of strange paranormal phenomena, including voices of unknown origin, isolated cold spots and unexplained shadows. Screams have been heard echoing in its now abandoned hallways, and fleeting apparitions have been encountered.

The Queen MaryThis grand old ship is quite haunted, according to the many people who have worked on and visited the craft. Once a celebrated luxury ocean liner, when it ended its sailing days the Queen Mary was purchased by the city of Long Beach, California in 1967 and transformed into a hotel.

The most haunted area of the ship is the engine room where a 17-year-old sailor was crushed to death trying to escape a fire. Knocking and banging on the pipes around the door has been heard and recorded by numerous people. In what is now the front desk area of the hotel, visitors have seen the ghost of a "lady in white."

Ghosts of children are said to haunt the ship's pool. The spirit of a young girl, who allegedly broke her neck in an accident at the pool, has been heard asking for her mother or her doll. In the hallway of the pool's changing rooms is an area of unexplained activity. Furniture moves about by itself, people feel the touch of unseen hands and unknown spirits appear. In the front hull of the ship, a specter can sometimes be heard screaming - the pained voice, some believe, of a sailor who was killed when the Queen Mary collided with a smaller ship.

Tower of LondonThe Tower of London, one of the most famous and well-preserved historical buildings in the world, may also be one of the most haunted. This is due, no doubt, to the scores of executions, murders and tortures that have taken place within its walls over the last 1,000 years. Dozens upon dozens of ghost sightings have been reported in and around the Tower. On one winter day in 1957 at 3 a.m., a guard was disturbed by something striking the top of his guardhouse. When he stepped outside to investigate, he saw a shapeless white figure on top of the tower. It was then realized that on that very same date, February 12, Lady Jane Grey was beheaded in 1554.

Perhaps the most well-known ghostly resident of the Tower is the spirit of Ann Boleyn, one of the wives of Henry VIII, who was also beheaded in the Tower in 1536. Her ghost has been spotted on many occasions, sometimes carrying her head, on Tower Green and in the Tower Chapel Royal.

Other ghosts of the Tower include those of Henry VI, Thomas a Becket and Sir Walter Raleigh. One of the most gruesome ghost stories connected with the Tower of London describes death of the Countess of Salisbury. According to one account, "the Countess was sentenced to death in 1541 following her alleged involvement in criminal activities (although it is now widely believed that she was probably innocent). After being sent struggling to the scaffold, she ran from the block and was pursued until she was hacked to death by the axe man." Her execution ceremony has been seen re-enacted by spirits on Tower Green.

Bell WitchA remarkable occurrence, which attracted wide-spread interest, was connected with the family of John Bell, who settled near what is now Adams Station about 1804. So great was the excitement that people came from hundreds of miles around to witness the manifestations of what was popularly known as the "Bell Witch." This witch was supposed to be some spiritual being having the voice and attributes of a woman. It was invisible to the eye, yet it would hold conversation and even shake hands with certain individuals. The feats it performed were wonderful and seemingly designed to annoy the family. It would take the sugar from the bowls, spill the milk, take the quilts from the beds, slap and pinch the children, and then laugh at the discomfort of its victims. At first it was supposed to be a good spirit, but its subsequent acts, together with the curses with which it supplemented its remarks, proved the contrary.

Roswell New MexicoRoswell has benefited from interest in the alleged UFO incident of 1947. It was the report of an object that crashed in the general vicinity in June or July 1947, allegedly an extraterrestrial spacecraft and its alien occupants. Since the late 1970s the incident has been the subject of intense controversy and of conspiracy theories as to the true nature of the object that crashed. The United States Armed Forces maintains that what was recovered was debris from an experimental high-altitude helium weather and surveillance balloon belonging to a classified program named "Mogul" however, many UFO proponents maintain that an alien craft was found and its occupants were captured, and that the military then engaged in a cover-up. In recent times, the business community has deliberately sought out tourists interested in UFOs, science fiction, and aliens.

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic AsylumThe Asylum has had apparition sightings, unexplainable voices and sounds, and other paranormal activity reported in the past by guests, staff, SyFy's Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters Academy, the Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures and Paranormal Challenge. Step back in time and see how the mentally insane lived, and died, within these walls.

Thousands have been committed to the asylum over the years, and hundreds unfortunately died here. Decide for yourself if they’re still occupying the historic wards and treatment rooms.

Centralia (Ghost Town, Mine Fire Burning Since 1962)Centralia is a borough and a near ghost town in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States. Its population has dwindled from over 1,000 residents in 1981 to 10 in 2010,[2] as a result of a mine fire burning beneath the borough since 1962. Centralia is one of the least-populated municipalities in Pennsylvania.

Eceti RanchA ranch in the backwoods of Washington state were I've witnessed unidentified flying objects in the night sky. Though I've yet to encounter an extraterrestrial,I have witnessed flight patterns not related to any satellites or aircrafts of the norm, and triangular shaped lights. Sightings were observably consistent after 10PM.

Source: Yitsim

Trout Lake, WA

Sutro BathsClosed permanently in 1966, the ruins and caves can still be explored. There are stories of sacrifices, and screams can be heard in the abandoned caves and tunnels. Sutro Baths is more of a place to hike and do a bit of urban exploration. Due to the terrain, it's not the safest area to conduct a paranormal investigation.

Source: Yitsim

1090 Point Lobos Ave, San Francisco, CA 94121

Harvey's Comedy ClubNumerous sightings and experiences reported by staff,vendors and customers. Harvey's resides in the early 1900's constructed Bastian Building, formally a hotel and brothel. The main entryways to other businesses are closed off, but several Shanghai tunnel passageways make the basement of the building. Sightings include: shadow people, an African American male, a woman dressed in an 80's era suit, male dressed in 1920's attire. Most of what's experienced are feelings of not being alone, footsteps, bar stools knocked to the ground, and voices. Most believe the tunnels are still being used in the afterlife, explaining the variety of sightings and paranormal experiences especially in areas directly above the tunnels. In doing research and piecing personal accounts, we believe we found the connection to the woman in the 80's era suit. This woman is always seen looking through banker boxes in the basement, which are the property of our law office neighbors above. Either a dedicated worker or a formal client, we've yet to figure that out.

Farnsworth House InnReputedly, one of the more haunted locations in Gettysburg. Pleasant staff and a great séance room next door.

Source: Josh Light

401 Baltimore St, Gettysburg, PA 17325

St. Joseph CemeterySaint Joseph CemeteryI witnessed a black cloaked entity with blonde hair, a slight lean, and most peculiarly, no face. It ‘stood’ approximately 6.5′ tall and remained visible for roughly 5 seconds. Further research found a name for the being, 'The Gatekeeper'.

Source: Josh Light

Saint Joseph Cemetery, Mahanoy, PA

New OrleansGhosts, voodoo, and vampires. If that isn't enough to get you wanting a trip out there, the promise of café au lait and beignets should put you over the top.

Source: Josh Light

New Orleans, LA

Stanley HotelMany believe the Stanley Hotel is haunted, having reported a number of cases of ghostly activity, primarily in the ballroom. Kitchen staff have reported to have heard a party going on in the ballroom, only to find it empty. People in the lobby have allegedly heard someone playing the ballroom's piano; employees investigating the music purportedly found nobody sitting at the piano. Employees believe that particular ghost is of Freelan O. Stanley's wife, Flora, who used to be a piano player. In one guest room, people claim to have seen a man standing over the bed before running into the closet. This same apparition is allegedly responsible for stealing guests' jewelry, watches, and luggage. Others reported to have seen ghosts in their rooms in the middle of the night, simply standing in their room before disappearing.

Area 51Area 51 (also known as Groom Lake,[1] or Dreamland) is a remote detachment of Edwards Air Force Base. According to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the correct names for the Area 51 facility are the Nevada Test and Training Range and Groom Lake,[2] though the name Area 51 has been used in official CIA documentation.[3] Other names used for the facility include Dreamland,[4]Paradise Ranch,[5][6]Home Base, Watertown Strip,[7] and most recently Homey Airport.[8] The area around the field is referred to as (R-4808N),[9]

It is located in the southern portion of Nevada in the western United States, 83 miles (133 km) north-northwest of Las Vegas. Situated at its center, on the southern shore of Groom Lake, is a large military airfield. The base's current primary purpose is officially undetermined; however, based on historical evidence, it most likely supports development and testing of experimental aircraft and weapons systems.[10] The intense secrecy surrounding the base has made it the frequent subject of conspiracy theories and a central component to unidentified flying object (UFO) folklore.[6][11] Although the base has never been declared a secret base, all researches and occurings in Area 51 are Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI).

Winchester Mystery HouseThe Winchester Mystery House in San Jose is supposedly haunted by the ghost of its eccentric builder, Sarah Winchester. Ironically, she is said to have built the rambling mansion to protect her from the spirits of all those killed with her late husband's famous line of rifles.

Shangai TunnelsThe Shangai tunnels located in Portland are part of an underground city located in the Old Town/Chinatown district. The tunnels were often used during prohibition, as well as to kidnap and smuggle immigrants, laborers, and prostitutes who would be sold to ship captains passing through on the Willamette River. The tunnels are reportedly the most haunted place in the city of Portland.

Skinwalker RanchAccording to local legend, Skinwalker Ranch, also known as Sherman Ranch, is a property located on approximately 480 acres (1.9 km2) southeast of Ballard, Utah that is allegedly the site ofparanormal and UFO-related activities. Its name is taken from the skin-walker of Native American legend.

Eastern State PennEastern State Penitentiary is reported to have apparitions, perhaps hundreds, walk its corridors. Infamous resident Al Capone was said to be haunted by the ghost of James Clark, slain under orders of Capone in the Saint Valentine's Day massacre. The guard tower is reputed to be haunted by the ghost of a guard. Cell Block 12 is credited as the site's most haunted location featuring shadow mass figures.

Little Round TopSeveral stories persist of paranormal activity at Little Round Top. One such story involves American Civil War re-enactors working as extras on the film Gettysburg who claim to have been visited by a man in Union soldier dress they assumed worked with the movie. He passed them ammunition and left where the men assumed the ammo to be blank rounds but realized it to be musket rounds. Later, they would learn they dated back to the time period and were in pristine condition.

Farnsworth House InnThe Farnsworth House Inn is reported to be haunted by the ghosts of women, children, cats, a nurse named Mary, and Confederate soldiers, notably "Walter" who is known to harm women.

Devil's DenThe Devil's Den is reputed to be haunted by soldiers of the Battle of Gettysburg, Second Day. One infamous soldier in particular with long grey hair, dirty, torn buckskin clothing, a large floppy hat, and no shoes.

Spring-heeled JackSpring-heeled Jack was described by people who claimed to have seen him as having a terrifying and frightful appearance, with diabolical physiognomy, clawed hands, and eyes that "resembled red balls of fire". One report claimed that, beneath a black cloak, he wore a helmet and a tight-fitting white garment like an oilskin. Many stories also mention a "Devil-like" aspect. Others said he was tall and thin, with the appearance of agentleman. Several reports mention that he could breathe out blue and white flames and that he wore sharp metallic claws at his fingertips. At least two people claimed that he was able to speak comprehensible English.

MothmanOn Nov. 12, 1966, five men who were digging a grave at a cemetery near Clendenin, WV claimed to see a man-like figure fly low from the trees over their heads.[5] This is often attributed as the first known sighting of what would become known as the Mothman.

Shortly thereafter, on Nov. 15, 1966, two young couples from Point Pleasant, Roger and Linda Scarberry, and Steve and Mary Mallette told police they saw a large white creature whose eyes "glowed red" when the car headlights picked it up. They described it as a "flying man with ten-foot wings' following their car while they were driving in an area of town known as 'the TNT area', the site of a former World War II munitions plant...

Montauk MonsterThe "Montauk Monster" was an unknown carcass[1][2] that washed ashore on a beach near the business district of Montauk, New York in July 2008.[3][4] The identity of the creature, and the veracity of stories surrounding it, have been the subject of controversy and speculation. It is unknown what happened to the carcass...

Lizard Man of Scape Ore SwampThe Lizard Man is described as being 7 feet (2.1 m) tall, bipedal, and well built, covered in dark hair with scaly lizard like skin on hands, feet and face. It is said to have three toes on each foot and three fingers on each arm, which witnesses say measure 6 feet in length and 2 feet in width. The creature has an incredible degree of strength, more than capable of ripping into a car. It might have a tail with six spikes ...

Lagarfljót Worm (Iceland Worm Monster)The serpentine creature is said to live and often be sighted raising its back above the water in Lagarfljót,[1][2] a freshwater, below-sea-level, glacial-fed lake which has very poor visibility as a result of siltation.[3] It is described as longer than a football field, or 300 feet (91 m), and has also been reported outside the water, lying coiled up or slithering into the trees.[4] Sometimes it is said to be as long as the lake itself, 30 kilometres (19 mi).[5] It is a "many humps" type of lake monster, rather than the simply serpentine type of, for example, the Loch Ness Monster...

Jersey DevilThe Jersey Devil is a legendary creature or cryptid said to inhabit the Pine Barrens of Southern New Jersey, United States. The creature is often described as a flying biped with hooves, but there are many different variations. The common description is that of a kangaroo-like creature with the head of a goat, leathery bat-like wings, horns, small arms with clawed hands, cloven hooves and a forked tail. It has been reported to move quickly and often is described as emitting a "blood-curdling scream...."

Kecksburg UFO incident (Space Acorn)...eyewitnesses in the small village of Kecksburg, about 30 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, claimed something crashed in the woods.[5] A boy said he saw the object land; his mother saw a wisp of blue smoke arising from the woods and alerted authorities. Another reported feeling a vibration and "a thump" about the time the object reportedly landed.[6] Others from Kecksburg, including local volunteer fire department members, reported finding an object in the shape of an acorn and about as large as a Volkswagen Beetle. Writing resembling Egyptian hieroglyphics was also said to be in a band around the base of the object. Witnesses further reported that intense military presence, most notably the United States Army, secured the area, ordered civilians out, and then removed the object on a flatbed truck[citation needed]. At the time, however, the military claimed they searched the woods and found "absolutely nothing"...

Oak Island Money PitOak Island is noted as the location of the so-called Money Pit and the site of over 200 years of treasure hunting.[1] Repeated excavations have reported layers of apparently man-made artifacts as deep as 31 metres (102 ft), but ended in collapsed excavations and flooding...

Beast of Bray RoadThe Beast of Bray Road is described by purported witnesses in several ways: as a bear-like creature, as a hairy biped resembling Bigfoot, and as an unusually large (2–4 feet tall on all fours, 7 feet tall standing up) intelligent wolf-like creature apt to walk on its hind legs and weighing 400-700 pounds. It also said that its fur is a brown gray color resembling a dog or bear.

Although the Beast of Bray Road has not been seen to transform from a human into a wolf in any of the sightings, it has been labeled a werewolf in newspaper articles.